Being Human    Together
by J.Wolfe
Summary: Chronicling a relationship between Aidan and Josh from close friendship to intimate romance.  Pre-Slash and Slash for Josh/Aidan.  More Chapters Soon. Fluffy. It's rated M now.
1. Waiting for Sunrise

Exhausted, Aidan slides his back down the wall until he hits the floor. Every month brings the same thing. Josh gets more and more irritable until the full moon rises. Then Aidan closes and locks the cage, making sure the wolf can't get out.

It really isn't all that physically taxing; all Aidan has to do is shut the door. The problem is that it is so emotionally demanding to get Josh through his "time of the month." Though he's never really been one for strong emotional responses, when Josh gets pissed off or turned on by every little thing, it takes all Aidan's got just to keep his cool. He knows it isn't Josh's fault; the moon makes him this way. And it only gets worse the closer he gets to the transformation.

Obviously he doesn't _enjoy_ a moody roommate, but Aidan can handle it pretty well. What he _can't_ handle are the gut-wrenching screams that echo out from the stone-walled cage. After the incident with his sister, Josh made Aidan promise that he would stay at the door all night when he became the wolf. Josh is the closest thing to a healthy relationship that Aidan's ever had, and hearing him in such apparent agony is something that he never looks forward to.

Aidan is no stranger to the sounds of pain, but what he hears from Josh each month is not comparable to anything he has ever witnessed before. Therefore, he can only conclude that the wolf is a much greater monster than anything he has previously known. Josh has made it clear on several occasions that he believes he is a monster himself. But Aidan has never seen Josh that way. The _wolf_ is the monster, Josh is just one of its most constant victims.

As he sits on the cold, concrete floor each and every month, Aidan thinks about a lot of things. Of all the things he thinks of, the subject he always returns to is Josh. He wishes he could get rid of the wolf, free Josh of his undeserved burden. He also thinks about how Josh has always been the kindest person Aidan has ever known. Even when the wolf begins to change his personality each month, Josh thinks of others and always tries to do the right thing. Bishop taught Aidan to look out for himself, not to care about collateral damage. But when he is with Josh, Aidan always tries to consider the consequences of his actions.

Tonight, while he sits, quietly awaiting the sunrise, Aidan thinks about his roommate. In an attempt to drown out the crazed howling of the wolf, Aidan recalls every detail he can about his friend: the way that Josh always cleans a dish right after he uses it; the way that Josh folds every random piece of laundry he finds on the floor and places it softly on the nearest nightstand; the way that Josh's eyes light up when he laughs at one of Aidan's not-so-funny jokes; the way Josh rubs Aidan's back instinctively every time he needs comforting-

"Hey. What's up?" Sally pops in and interrupts Aidan's thoughts, which were clearly leading somewhere he doesn't want to go. Now that she can leave the house, Sally constantly pops in and bugs Aidan while he waits for Josh to finish on these dreadful nights.

"Oh, well, you know… Just waiting on my werewolf buddy to get over his monthly freak out so I can give him some clothes." Even if he doesn't really want the company, Aidan isn't going to aggravate the ghost who controls the state of the pipes and circuitry in his apartment.

"So, how far along is he?" Sally asks just like always.

"He finished the shift. Now it's just trying to claw its way out."

In some ways Aidan is jealous of Sally. She saw Josh shift once before because she knew the wolf could not hurt her. Seeing such a transformation is extremely intimate, and Aidan knows that Josh thinks of it that way, too. But, there isn't really a reason to be jealous; all Aidan has to do is look through the small window on the cage door to see the transformation. The problem is that Aidan doesn't really _want_ to see it. Even though it would bring the two men closer together, which Aidan is all for, it is hard enough to hear the screams of his friend, let alone see the massive skeletal shifts that must occur during the transformation.

Aidan notices that there has been a long silence, so he initiates the conversation. "Is there anything in particular you came to talk about, Sally?"

"No, I was just bored. Haunting isn't any _fun_ when there are no people around."

Aidan quietly laughs at Sally's almost childish statement. "Well you probably won't be having much fun here, either," Aidan says with a smirk. "I'm not all that exciting when he's in there."

"Oh, please, Aidan. Just because you miss your _boyfriend_ doesn't mean you're a boring person."

Aidan has gotten used to people thinking he and Josh are together, but ever since they corrected her the first time, Sally has never referred to Aidan and Josh's relationship in that way. So, Aidan is slightly thrown off by Sally's words.

"Sally, I really don't feel like talking right now. In fact, I was just planning on getting some sleep. Would you mind, you know, _not_ haunting me tonight?"

"Fine… But I'll be back in the morning, so no canoodling when he wakes up, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. See you at sunrise."


	2. Waking Up

A small beam of sunlight slipped through the narrow window at the top of the wall. The bright light landed directly on Aidan's closed eyes, slowly bringing him back into consciousness. Today was a rare occasion: Aidan was actually awake before Josh. At home, Josh was always up over an hour before he needed to be anywhere. Aidan, on the other hand, had to be coaxed from his bed every morning. He could certainly get up of his own volition - he had been doing so for hundreds of years - but the way Josh would tip-toe into the room and speak softly to wake him was so warm and comforting that Aidan never got up with any real time to spare.

Today it was Aidan's turn to wake Josh. Shifting from his still-cold resting spot upon the concrete floor, he silently stepped over to the large, metal cage door. Aidan gazed through the small window on the door to see the back of a pale and naked Josh curled up in the fetal position directly in the middle of the cold, concrete floor. Without making any noise, Aidan opened the door; and, taking great care, he quietly glided across the floor until he was about five feet from his friend.

"Josh?" Aidan whispered. "Are you awake?" No answer came. Now Aidan was faced with quite the dilemma: Josh would be far more comfortable off that hard floor; _but_, Aidan simply couldn't bring himself to rouse Josh from his current position. It occurred to him that he had never actually seen Josh asleep; and, he had to admit, it was pretty cute. Just as he began to lose himself in the moment, Aidan realized that Josh must be freezing without any clothes on. He gave in to the slightly more selfish plan of action and decided to just try to make his friend more comfortable. Aidan removed his jacket and draped it gently over Josh. _After all_, he thought to himself and smirked,_ 'Let sleeping dogs lie.'_

Though his gesture was warm, Aidan's jacket was not, and the icy material brought Josh back to the world of the living - or, at least, the somewhat-living. With a quick inhale and a quick blinking of his eyes, Josh asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, sleepy-head. Are you ready to get up?"

"Yeah." Josh pulled on the edges of the jacket to cover himself, feeling slightly embarrassed as he always did after the full moon. "Do you have my clothes?"

Aidan had almost forgotten about that reason for his being here. He had left the clothes in the hallway when he came in to wake Josh. "Right… About that…" Josh shot him a no-nonsense glare and Aidan couldn't stop himself from chuckling. "I'll go get them. Give me a second."

As Aidan turned to leave, Josh sat up and pulled the jacket to his face. He could smell Aidan on it. He knew the smell well, after all, the two men had been around each other for an inordinate amount of time in the past two years. Whereas Josh's smell was musky and wild, Aidan's was soft and sweet. He wanted to bathe himself in that scent so that he could carry it with him wherever he went. But, just at that moment, Aidan turned the corner of the cage wall and tossed the fresh clothes at Josh.

"Okay, Cinderella, get dressed or you're going to miss the ball."

"You realize that if I'm Cinderella then you're the Fairy Godmother, right?" Aidan's face went blank as he realized the flaw in his analogy. But, he was far too excited to let the backfire bring him down.

Because Josh had had the full moon the night before, both of the men had gotten the next two days off. It was rare for the two of them to have days off at the same time, and Aidan was determined to make the most of the occasion. He had been planning the miniature vacation for the last three days, putting everything in place to help Josh feel more like a normal person.

After a moment gathering his thoughts, Aidan returned to the conversation. He smirked and exclaimed, "Bippity-Boppity-Boo!" waving his hand as if holding a wand. "Nope. You're still not dressed."

Josh smirked. Then, Aidan came to the sudden realization that for the entire conversation he had been staring right at Josh, who was stark naked under the jacket and clothes he held and probably was not super comfortable with changing in front of his best friend. "Oh," Aidan said, shocked by his epiphany, "Sorry. I'll turn around."

Behind him, Aidan heard the sounds of fabric sliding smoothly over soft skin and a zipper being pulled quickly shut. "Okay," Josh proclaimed after no more than thirty seconds, "I'm ready to go."

"Good," Aidan said, still grinning, "We have places to be."

"What? No we don't. We both took the day off work, remember?"

"Yeah, that's not what I was talking about. Come on." Aidan put a hand on Josh's shoulder and led him quickly out the cage door.


	3. Morning Coffee

Sally whooshed into the large, old hospital room in her usual ghostly fashion. Last night she had had a small talk with Aidan while he waited for Josh's transformation to be completed. Sally had promised she would return, and she was not one to break a promise. But, as she spun a full circle searching the room for her corporeal roommates, she found no one.

Sally had heard Josh say many times that it takes exactly 42 minutes to get home from the hospital, and Aidan and Josh always got back from their monthly cage visit at 9:15. It was only 6:30, so Sally suspected something was afoot. With another small gust of wind, she was gone from the cage.

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><p>"Aidan," Josh protested as he was led swiftly down the corridors of the hospital, "where are we going?"<p>

"It's a surprise. You'll like it, I promise." It took what little restraint he had left to keep from grabbing Josh's hand and dragging him out of the hospital because he was going too slow. Aidan didn't get excited about things very often, but this was something he had been looking forward to: two days with his best friend to do normal people stuff.

Josh could see the excitement on Aidan's face, the other man's euphoric expressions making him smile. "Okay," Josh said, smirking, defeated by Aidan's enormous charm and exuberance. They reached the car and Aidan opened Josh's door as if to speed the process along.

After a short drive, Aidan came to a stop in front of IHOP. "Seriously?" Josh said. "This is the big surprise you've been so excited about?"

"Not entirely," Aidan said, a slight look of defeat glazing his face. "This is just part one. Besides, for the day we're going to have, you're going to need your morning coffee."

Aidan opened the door and ushered Josh inside. "But, Aidan, you don't even eat. Why don't we just go home?"

"It's fine. Besides, I know you are always hungry after your time of the month rolls around."

The hostess showed up at the front counter. "Just the two of you?" she asked politely.

"Yes," Aidan answered. She showed them to a small table and they sat down. She handed Josh a menu, and as she started to hand Aidan a menu Josh opened his mouth to protest. "Thank you," Aidan said, taking the menu before Josh could get a word out. Josh knew that it was uncomfortable for Aidan to eat because his vampire stomach wouldn't digest the food; but, he also knew that Aidan would probably eat food to encourage the perception of the pair's normalcy.

"Aidan, don't," Josh pleaded. "We both know that you'll just end up puking your guts out, and nobody wants that."

"Relax, Josh. I was just being nice."

The hostess returned with a pot of coffee. "I'll be your waitress today, too. It's never really that busy in here this early. What are you two up to?"

"Well," Aidan said, "we've both got the day off work so I planned a bit of fun for the day."

"Yep," Josh remarked almost spitefully, "And he won't even tell me what his plans are."

"Oh, that is so cute!" remarked the young lady. "Is it your guys' anniversary or something?"

Again Josh opened his mouth to correct the hostess, but Aidan spoke faster, "Nope, just some time to hang out together."

"Still, super cute! Anyway, what can I get you guys?"

"I'll just take some coffee and he'll have the T-bone steak and eggs with two stacks of pancakes and a double order of bacon."

The server left without Josh protesting, but after she was out of ear-shot, Josh set in, "What the hell was that?"

"What? That's what you wanted isn't it?"

It was, but that wasn't why Josh was angry. "Look, I'm not some child you can just make decisions for, Aidan. You're a great friend, but sometimes you're just too overbearing."

"I wasn't making your order because I think you're a child, Josh."

"Then why did you do it?"

That one got him. Aidan didn't really _know_ why he had ordered for Josh, but as he looked back, he was beginning to see a pattern in his actions: he thinks about Josh all the time, he puts a great deal of effort into planning time where they can be together, he put his coat on Josh when he saw he was cold, he opened the car and restaurant doors for Josh, he placed Josh's order. All in all, Aidan was being quite chivalrous.

"I-I don't know. Sorry, it won't happen again."

Josh could see the confusion on Aidan's face and now he felt bad for making his friend lose all his excitement. "Look, I didn't mean for you to get upset. I just… I don't know."

After a long silence the hostess returned to check on the pair. "How's everybody doing? Need any more coffee?"

Aidan began to speak but stopped to let Josh answer. "No, thank you. We're fine for now." The young lady smiled and walked away. "So… what's next on the agenda?" Josh said with strained enthusiasm.

Aidan looked up, searching for some sign that the day was going to be salvaged. When he saw the effort Josh was putting forth, he began to regain some of his excitement. "Okay, so, after we finish here we're going to head over to Hungry Hippo's 18 Hole Putt-a-Rama."

"Miniature golf?"

"Yeah. Why not? It's something that normal people do on their days off, right?"

"I guess so."

The hostess came back and interrupted their conversation. "Okay, cutie, so you've got the steak and eggs, two stacks of pancakes, and a double order of bacon. Anything else you need?"

Aidan held his tongue again and Josh, after a short pause, responded, "Nope. Thanks."

Aidan held the warm mug of coffee in his cold hands while he watched Josh begin eating. Josh always felt a little uncomfortable when he ate in a room with Aidan because he was always being watched. It wasn't meant to make him uncomfortable, and he knew that, but Josh couldn't help but feel strange.

Aidan had liked living with Josh for many reasons, but one of the one's that he was more aware of was that he like watching Josh eat. Aidan could not eat without some drastic consequences, but Josh cooked nice meals and Aidan could experience them vicariously through him. Most mornings, Josh would drink his coffee while Aidan drank his bagged blood - which Josh often warmed before waking him up. Josh probably thought Aidan considered the warm blood his "morning coffee," but the thing that really allowed him to get energized was watching Josh get ready. Now that they were finishing the morning coffee ritual at the restaurant, Aidan was getting even more excited for his day.

Just like Aidan had said earlier, Josh was unbelievably hungry the morning after his transformation. He shoveled the food into his mouth and even, if only for a moment, forgot he was being watched. After about seven minutes, the food was gone and the coffee pot was empty. "Well then," Aidan asked excitedly, "ready to go?"

"Yeah, but there's no way the miniature golf place is open at 7:00 in the morning."

"That's already taken care of. Come on, I'll get the check." Aidan waved his hand in the air to get the hostess's attention and got the check from her. At first Josh said he wanted to pay; of course, Aidan was not going to let that happen, even if he was _trying_ to be less chivalrous towards his male friend.

The day ahead of them was going to be long and exciting. Luckily they had both had their morning coffee.


	4. Putt 'er' ing Around

**A/N**: This chapter got really, really long. Sorry/ You're welcome (depending on how you take that little tidbit of info). As always, thanks to anyone who reads this and double thanks to everybody who reviews. Hope you all enjoy it : )

* * *

><p>A giant, purple hippo leaned onto a bag of multi-colored golf clubs outside the miniature golf course entrance. Josh plopped down on the base of the statue, waiting for Aidan's crazy agenda to continue surprising him. "So... how exactly are we getting in?"<p>

"Give it a minute. She'll be here." Aidan was still in his unbelievably bubbly mood; he was literally bouncing up and down.

Though Josh giggled - in a _manly_ way, of course - at the jolly vampire, he was a bit confused. "'She', who?"

"The manager." He looked off into the distance. "Oh, there she is." The woman in her mid-twenties parked her car and fumbled with her keys as she strode over to the odd pair.

"Hi! Sorry I'm late. I got all caught up in traffic and I-"

Aidan cut her off, "That's fine. So, can you open her up for us now?"

The woman seemed to calm down and get embarrassed all at once. She was wearing way too much makeup and she put a hand on Aidan's arm. "Oh, right." She giggled and got the correct key sorted out from the bunch. The woman leaned over and whispered something into Aidan's ear. Josh's senses were still heightened, but even a full-fledged wolf wouldn't have been able to hear the quiet utterance. He did manage to catch one word: _'cute'_. Aidan laughed and held the door that the woman had unlocked and pulled open. She walked in hurriedly and disappeared down a long hallway.

"You coming?" Aidan asked, the laughter still resonating in his voice.

"Yeah... Yeah." Josh shook himself from whatever strange thoughts were running through his head and pulled himself up off of the statue, walking to the door.

Aidan spread his arm across Josh's back and placed his hand on the smaller man's shoulder, guiding him through the door. "This is going to be so fun. I haven't played golf since 1922." Aidan was speaking directly into Josh's ear. He wasn't being overly loud, but his breath was brushing softly against Josh's face.

It felt good; but, feeling good felt wrong. And, something else was bothering Josh, so he gently moved out from under Aidan's embrace. "Why do you think I can't pick up any girls?"

"What?" Aidan turned his entire body to face Josh. Then he playfully smirked, "Do you _really_ want me to answer that?"

"Well... I don't know. It's just that it's been _forever_ since a girl even wanted to _talk_ to me. But... **you**. I mean, every time we're around a remotely available woman they just get all mushy and flirty with you. I usually just play it off as a vampire thing, but if there's something else, you've **got** to tell me."

Aidan shifted his weight to his other foot, preparing to speak. "I know I'm _incredibly_ attractive..." - Aidan smiled and Josh returned the look of amusement - "But I do have one other big thing going for me."

Aidan stopped, which the already impatient Josh could not handle. "_Well_? What is it?"

Aidan leaned in, clearly amused with himself. "Girls love a guy with a cute puppy."

Josh scoffed at the remark: he was no one's puppy. The amused expression on Aidan's face gave no indication of whether or not he was kidding, and Josh was quite perturbed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Aidan had struck another nerve. He should've known better than to refer to Josh in such terms, but he had always felt comfortable poking fun at his friend. It seemed like a human thing to do. "Oh, come on. Don't be so sensitive. It was just a joke." Aidan patted Josh on the shoulder and chuckled.

Then, after a long, awkward silence, a sing-songy voice echoed down the hall, "Okay! Everything's all set up for you guys." She rushed down the hall, moving right between the pair. She reached out and rubbed Aidan's arm in what Josh considered an outrageously too friendly gesture. "Have fun. And don't forget to lock up when you're done." She smiled waved and swiftly exited the building.

"I... I'm really confused." Josh had decided to drop the whole "puppy" issue in lieu of the fact that Aidan had managed to get some stranger to open at an odd hour and leave them without supervision. "How did you get her to open early for us?"

"I have my ways." Josh did not look happy with that response. "I didn't compel her," he said, bending to Josh's moral compass. Josh lifted an eyebrow and still didn't look satisfied with the response. Aidan had to think for a moment, trying to come up with any other reason for the confusion. "She's not a vampire." Nope, that wasn't it. He paused again. He had no clue why Josh was still wary of the situation. "Okay, what's your deal?"

"Did you sleep with her?"

"_What_? No!" Disgust and confusion quickly flashed onto Aidan's face.

"Did you _flirt_ with her?"

"Seriously, Josh? You think I would do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" Aidan looked bewildered and he had lost the exuberance that he had had earlier. Josh felt terrible. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. So... What did you do?"

"I... just told her our story - obviously not the _whole_ story - just that we work a lot and we finally had some time off together and I wanted to do something... _special_."

"Oh... Okay then." Josh took a moment to recompose himself. "Something special." He bowed slightly and waved his hand like an old British butler, "Lead the way, good sir."

Aidan smiled widely and almost bounced down the hall before stopping and turning 180 degrees at the end. "Okay," he said as Josh approached with a big grin, "close your eyes."

Josh giggled. "What?"

"Close your eyes." Josh shut his eyes, but Aidan was still unsure. "You're looking!"

"No I'm not!"

"Okay, quick fix." Aidan moved behind Josh and wrapped both hands around his eyes. He pushed his legs against Josh's to make him walk forward. After about ten, tragically slow and excruciatingly comfortable steps, Aidan stopped the conjoined pair and turned them to face a large, open space.

One of Aidan's hands moved away from Josh's face and clicked a button on some unseen remote. Suddenly music whirred around Josh's ears and Aidan allowed him to see the swirling and flashing lights, yelling, "Surprise!"

It was as if a carnival had been crammed inside a warehouse, and Aidan was ecstatic with the shocked and elated expression on Josh's face.

"Holy crap, dude! This is incredible!" Josh had never told anyone, but he had always been a big fan of carnivals. The crazy music, the flashing, colored lights, and the carnies. He loved carnies. Josh was awkward, carnies were awkward; it was a match made in heaven. "How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"I love carnivals. How did you know?" Josh knew it was likely to be just another crazy, random happenstance, but he felt like Aidan got him well enough to know these sorts of things.

"Well - and don't think I'm some sort of creepy serial killer - you talk in your sleep." Immediately after saying it, Aidan could not believe he admitted to one of his more embarrassing habits. Hopefully Josh hadn't picked up on it.

"Okay, the fact that you _were_ a creepy **vampire** serial murderer aside, how would you know I talk in my sleep?"

_Shit._ "Yeah, um... Here's the thing, you talk _really_ loud and I hear _really_ well and... I don't know, it's soothing to listen to you talk." _That was too deep_, Aidan thought, so he spat out a joke: "You're like white noise; so boring I fall asleep."

"Oh, ha ha." Josh playfully punched Aidan on the arm and grabbed a golf club and ball from the bin beside the entrance. "Are we going to play, or what?"

Aidan laughed and picked up a ball and club. "You are going to lose so badly."

"Please, I'm going to kick your butt." The two laughed and Josh set his ball down on the first tee.

"Okay, game time," Josh said. Aidan chuckled again. "Shut up. Now, square up the hips, adjust your shoulders, and..." Josh swung the club and smacked the ball. Unfortunately, he was still a little stronger than he thought and the ball flew through the air until it hit the back wall of the large enclosure.

"Wow... Josh, you know the goal here **isn't** distance, right?"

"Yeah, um, I just put a little too much oomph in I guess."

Aidan put his ball on the tee and sent the ball sailing perfectly down the path to the hole, using just the right amount of force.

"Seriously?" Josh asked, and Aidan laughed. Josh tried again, getting much closer this time. It took another three swing to pass the first hole and Aidan was already gaining a major lead.

It went on like this until the pair reached the eleventh hole. Aidan had a twenty point lead, and at this point, Josh showed no sign of improving beyond his current performance level.

"Okay, Josh, you need some help."

"What? No! I'm going to catch up."

Aidan stepped up to Josh, standing directly in front of him. "Mirror my movements, okay?"

"O-kay." Aidan put his arms out holding an invisible club. He shifted his shoulders, preparing to swing, and gazed up at Josh who was watching intently. There was a long moment when their eyes met and neither man moved, but then Josh suddenly broke eye contact and they continued with the mimicry.

"Now swing, but **softly**." Josh lowered the club in an arc at what he thought to be an unbearably slow speed, but the ball still flew past the hole and bounced off the short wall outlining the course.

"Well..." Josh said sarcastically, "That worked super fantastically."

"Come on," Aidan sighed. "We'll try again." They began the mimicking session again, but it quickly became clear that Josh couldn't mirror well enough for this to work. "Let's try something else." Aidan stepped around behind Josh and wrapped his cold arms around, gripping the club over Josh's burning, trembling hands.

Josh couldn't believe how unbelievably wrong and right it all felt, and he almost pushed away from Aidan, but the ball glided down the course, bumping off the corners at the exact right angles and plopping right into the hole.

"Oh... My... God! That was awesome!" Josh jumped forward and threw his arms up in the air, cheering. Then, in a moment of pure, childish ecstasy, he threw his arms around Aidan and jumped up and down. Both of the men laughed and cheered, but after the moment should've been over, they lingered in each other's embrace.

Aidan drew a deep breath and pushed Josh out to an arm's length. "So... you think you got it now?"

"Yeah, I- _achoo!_ - think I got it."

"What was that?" Josh couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard a smidgen of concern in Aidan's voice.

"Oh, I've just had the sniffles for the last few weeks." He could not believe he just said 'sniffles.' As if there wasn't enough of an age difference between them, Josh used childish words all the time. "I'll be fine. Nothing my wolfy - ahem - canine system can't recuperate from."

Of course, Josh being sick would not bode well for Aidan's weekend plans, but he found himself more worried about Josh's actual physical health than his vast, personal investment in the planned agenda.

Aidan was staring, and Josh had a minor internal freak-out about it. "Aidan? What are you looking at?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." Aidan couldn't see anything majorly wrong, so he just decided to go on with the game, which he was still winning by a landslide.

They walked - very close together - to the next hole. Aidan sent his ball straight down the course and into the hole. He turned, and when he saw the look on Josh's face, he cracked up. "I swear, I'm not trying to whoop you."

"Oh, that boosts my confidence." Josh put the ball on the tee and got ready to swing.

"Wait," Aidan sighed. "You're still doing it wrong."

"Oh, come on. Seriously?"

Aidan stepped back around Josh and positioned them to swing. "We'll take it slower this time. Now, pay attention." Aidan moved the club and Josh's arms along with his own. As they turned, Josh's hips ground into Aidan. "Okay," Aidan said with a start, "There's your problem." Aidan slid his hands down Josh's arms to his hips and held them firmly. "You're swinging your hips too much. It's giving your swing too much power and you keep overshooting the target."

Josh was getting far too uncomfortably comfortable with this closeness, and, unfortunately lucky for him, his body ended it. After an extremely short silence and a soft breath on the back of his neck, Josh's face got all screwed up and he let out a giant sneeze, then another, then another, and one last burst of air left his face. The convulsions accompanying the massive sneezes pushed the two men apart.

When Josh turned around and saw the shocked look on Aidan's face, he immediately burst into a fit of laughter. Aidan got really confused, which only made Josh's laughter worse. Then Aidan began to laugh and the two of them went on for almost ten minutes, laughing at nothing and at everything.

Once they finally got calmed down, Aidan asked, in a very concerned voice, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Okay, let me try to do it without swinging my hips." Josh readied himself, swung his arms up, and tapped the ball down the course. It bounced off the first wall, then the second, and glided to a stop just inches shy of the hole. Josh went into a infantile excitement and when he turned around, he saw Aidan, standing with his arms folded and a smile of pure pride spread across his face.

"Are you going to finish this course or are you just going to stand there with that stupid grin on your face?"

"Oh, right." Josh hopped over the outline of the course and prepared to sink the ball. A small tap and it went straight to - and around - the hole. "Are you kidding me?" Aidan was laughing uncontrollably and Josh emitted a few half chuckles, but he walked to the other side and putted the ball in.

Josh walked over and stood next to Aidan, who was still doubled over laughing. "You... must have... the _worst_ luck in the world," Aidan managed to get out while he almost suffocated from laughter.

Aidan was actually right. Josh did have some of the worst luck in the world, because, every second that went by took him further away from his connection to the wolf, which was the only reason he hadn't been feeling much more than the 'sniffles' for the last few days.

Aidan watched as Josh's face got ridiculously screwed up and then he was thrown into a fit of sneezes and coughs.

His stomach rumbled ominously and his face got serious. "Aidan?" He looked up with enormous puppy-dog eyes and pleaded, "Bathroom?"


	5. Sick Puppy

It was a _long_ car ride home. Aidan had to stop four times so Josh could get out and puke on the side of the road. Having a big breakfast had not been kind to Josh's situation, and he quietly moaned with indigestion for the majority of the drive. About two minutes after the final stop, Josh fell asleep, still groaning in pain.

Aidan figured he should be desensitized to the sound of Josh's pain by now, he had heard much worse each month while he sat beside the cage. But, the muffled and exhausted agony flowing from his friend caused Aidan's gut to tie itself in knots and his muscles to tense to the point where he thought he might just crush the steering wheel.

Aidan pulled up in front of the house, slowing softly to a stop so as not to wake Josh. He turned off the car and turned to his sleeping companion. Even when he was sick and smelled of vomit, Josh was unbelievably adorable. Aidan felt a rush of cold air and his hair stood up with static electricity. _Sally. Shit._

Sally yelled as she materialized in the back seat, "Where the hell have you two been!" It was more of an accusation than a question.

Aidan lifted his eyebrows and gave her a serious look. Sally's first scream luckily hadn't woken Josh, but he didn't want to risk another. "Shhhh..." he breathed and held his finger over his lips. "He's sleeping and he's sick, so just go inside and be quiet, okay?"

Sally was clearly not happy with his tone, but she knew better than to fight with Aidan were Josh's well-being was concerned. So, with a childish look of anger on her face, she misted out of the car and into the house.

Aidan got out of the car and walked around to the other side. He paused, taking a large breath before opening Josh's door. Aidan slid his arms under Josh's knees and around his back, moving with soft precision to keep the sick man from waking up.

Josh's head leaned readily against Aidan's chest as he was lifted from the car. Aidan managed to close the car door with his leg without making any noise, and he quickly ascended the steps to the front door. He hadn't thought this through very well. He had Josh, who was still asleep, but he had no free hand to open the door. Aidan turned around, trying to think up a solution to his small but extremely frustrating problem.

An older woman was walking her dog down the street, and, just as she was passing the bottom of the steps, Aidan softly called to the woman: "Excuse me. Miss?" She turned, and seeing the strange scene, tilted her head to the side. Aidan cocked his head, using it to point to the door. "Could you please..."

"Oh, sure, dear." She picked up her dog and hurried up the steps. Opening the door, she smiled at Aidan and said, "It's nice to know there are still people out there who are good to their friends."

Aidan returned the smile and hurriedly thanked her. He knew he shouldn't have been, but he was actually a little bothered by the fact that the woman **didn't** assume he and Josh were together. But, he didn't have the attention necessary to dwell on that. For now, his only focus was getting Josh to bed.

Sally was standing on the stairs, and Aidan would've walked straight through her had she not evaporated first. She was clearly getting more frustrated with him, and, in order to keep her from exploding the lights, Aidan paused momentarily and gave her a look of his own apology mixed with his disapproval of her behavior. She felt just guilty enough to leave them alone for the next few minutes without causing havoc in the house.

Aidan got up the stairs to the hallway and stopped at the entrance to Josh's room. Everything inside the werewolf's room was immaculate and perfectly tucked away. Aidan knew that a sick Josh would make a mess, and he knew that a mess would make Josh sick; so, the sole option was to move him to the only place in the house that wasn't consistently kept clean: Aidan's room. It wasn't a disaster zone, but it certainly wasn't clean. Aidan set Josh down gently on the rumpled sheets and cleared away the dirty clothes from the foot of the bed.

Now that he wasn't burdened with his sleeping friend, Aidan moved at vampire speed around the room, getting rid of the dirty clothes and garbage scattered about. He walked out the door, pausing for a moment just to look at Josh, lying there on the bed with thinly-veiled discomfort.

Downstairs, Aidan grabbed the small trash can from under the sink and a thick quilt from the storage compartment under the front window's sill. Then he walked to the stairs, but Sally was standing right in the middle of them, and this time he had no real excuse to be in a rush.

"What?" Aidan sighed.

"Where were you guys?" It was much more of a question this time than the last.

"Ahhh, um... It's kind of a long story."

"Aidan. Of all people - _things_ - **we** have time."

There was a moment where Aidan's face made it very clear that he didn't want to spill the beans, but Sally was adamant and he knew she held the real power here. "We were playing miniature golf."

"Mini golf?" she asked sarcastically. "At seven in the morning? Where? No, _Why_?"

"It's our day off. I wanted to have some fun and I knew Josh could use some normalcy."

Sally was intrigued, but she knew he was holding something back. "Aidan, playing mini golf that early in the morning isn't really normal. Why didn't you just wait until later today?"

"There were other plans."

"What other plans?"

"It's a long list. Can we discuss this later? I really should get this bucket up there before he pukes on my floor." Sally moved out of the way, but she would be sure to make Aidan explain later and he knew that.

Josh was still lying on the bed, but he was semi-conscious now. "Hey," Aidan said softly, "Go back to sleep." He draped the quilt over Josh and set the trash can next to the bed. Josh pushed the heavy quilt off of himself with weak and poorly aimed arm movements and kicks. "Josh," Aidan said in an almost maternal voice, "you know you have to keep covered to help get rid of your virus."

"Ungh," he groaned, "Too hot." Aidan was a nurse, but he hadn't ever had a werewolf patient, so he would just have to go by what Josh said he needed.

That's a lie. Aidan knew there was probably no major difference between werewolf flu and human flu, but he always caved to whatever Josh wanted.

He ran downstairs to try to find some ice, but Josh only really drank coffee and tea, and Aidan preferred his blood warm, so the only thing really cold to be found was a small bag of peas. He took the bag back upstairs and put it on Josh's forehead.

"Still too hot," Josh whined.

"There isn't anything else to cool you down with. What do you want me to do, Josh?" Josh whined again in response. Aidan thought about it for a minute and had an epiphany: he's a vampire; he's cold. Aidan moved to the other side of the bed and lay down behind Josh, leaving some room between them.

Josh could feel the cold behind him, and in his admittedly loopy state, pushed himself back onto Aidan to cool down. "That feels good. What is that?"

"It's me." Aidan said, his voice cracking slightly.

Josh froze and his eyes snapped open. He was suddenly lucid and he felt the need to vomit again. He sat bolt upright and bent over the side of the bed, puking into the bucket Aidan had put there.

"Well..." Aidan said, only slightly joking, "that doesn't help the ego any."

Josh groaned and lay back down on his back. Aidan was still lying on his side, staring at Josh and grinning slightly. "You know," Josh said, "this is probably your fault."

"Oh, really. How do you figure?"

"Remember that neighborhood watch party you threw? All those people in our house, touching things. They probably spread their crazy flu germs everywhere."

Aidan laughed at the clear manifestation of Josh's OCD. "You do realize we work in a hospital. You're more likely to have gotten sick there than here."

"No, dummy," Josh retorted condescendingly. "I use sanitizer and gloves and everything is sterile at work. Here the germs get in our - **my** food." There was a slight pause. "By the way, why are we in your room?"

"I figured you didn't want to puke in your room. It would've made a mess."

"Aww..." Josh swooned and turned his head, smiling weakly. "So thoughtful." Aidan shrugged humbly and then they just looked at each other for a while. They were completely content to just lie there, but then Sally popped in.

"Aidan," she beckoned, not realizing Josh was awake, "I'm expecting the full explanation now." Aidan gave her a slight glare and Josh rolled over. "Oops!" Sally yipped and she popped out of the room.

"I should probably go handle that," Aidan sighed and got up. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay," Josh began absentmindedly, "but hurry." Josh froze, embarrassed, and Aidan smirked and walked away.

Sally was waiting nervously on the bottom step. She began to speak at triple speed: "Oh-my-god, Aidan. I am so sorry. Did I wake him up? I woke him up. I'm sorry. I swear it won't happen again. Sorry."

"That's fine, Sally. He was already awake. Besides, I said I would tell you what the plans were and we might as well get it done now." The 'so I can pay more attention to Josh later' was implied. "Okay, so, the plan was to go to breakfast after we got out of the hospital this morning, then we went to the miniature golf place, which is where he got sick. After golf we were going to the aquarium to look at penguins and jellyfish and clownfish and stuff and then we were going to have brunch at the coffee place next to that park by the water, because you know Josh gets really hungry the day after the full moon, and then we were going to take a walk and people watch and-"

Sally cut him off with a smirk and a giggle, "Oh my god, Aidan. Seriously?"

"What?" Aidan was completely confused about Sally's reasons for cutting him off.

She hushed her voice but continued to giggle. "You planned a _date_?"

"_No!_ Sally! What?" Aidan really hadn't been trying to plan a date, but now that Sally had shown it in that light, things became rather slanted.

"Well, I think I've heard enough to effectively release you from our explanation agreement. Go take care of your sick boyfriend."

Aidan decided to ignore her last comment because he actually did want to go check on Josh. When he got to the room he leaned against the doorway, folding his arms across his chest. Josh was still wide awake and he gained a slightly worried and amused expression the moment Aidan came into vision.

"So... How are you feeling?"

"Worse," Josh grumbled. "I think I'm getting sicker the more the wolf wears off. I'm sore, I'm nauseous, and I'm burning up."

Aidan walked over and knelt down at eye level with Josh, putting his hand on the sick man's feverish forehead. Josh pushed his head into the cool hand and closed his eyes. "I'll get you some medicine and then we'll cool you down."

"Can we skip the medicine?" Josh was losing his brain-to-mouth filter as his condition deteriorated, but he could still try to recover from his slips: "I hate cherry flavor?" It wasn't really supposed to be a question, but it served its purpose as well as anything else.

"I think we have some grape." Aidan disappeared into the bathroom and fumbled through the cupboards until he found a small bottle of purple liquid.

Josh was getting sicker and sicker, but he was comfortable despite the heat, fatigue, and nausea. It was the room. It smelled like Aidan. Everything. The sheets, the pillow, the air. It was covering Josh now, too. It was a dream come true. If only he was there under less uncomfortable circumstances.

Aidan returned with the bottle of purple medicine and a table spoon. He poured the liquid onto the spoon until there wasn't room for another drop. "Can you sit up?" Aidan asked softly. It was mostly rhetorical because he was going to help Josh up regardless. He placed a hand on Josh's back and pulled him up so he was sitting. "Open wide," Aidan said playfully, pushing the spoon toward Josh so gracefully that the medicine didn't even waver atop it.

Josh gave him a look that said 'funny, but not right now' and accepted the medicine. Aidan lowered him back onto the bed and then crawled over the top of his roommate to the other side so he could cool Josh down. Josh relaxed his body and fell back into Aidan, who just lay there at first, trying to diminish the awkwardness of the situation. But, that only made it worse; so, Aidan decided to make it full on awkward and wrapped his arms around his sick friend.

"Sorry I ruined your stay-cation plans." Josh knew he didn't have to apologize, it wasn't his fault he got sick. But, he also knew that Aidan had put a lot of effort into the agenda and now all that was lost.

"Don't worry about it," Aidan reassured. "We would have ended up back here eventually." He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Besides… this isn't all that terrible."


	6. Lazy Daze

They had been lying there in bed for hours. Aidan was wrapped solidly around Josh, decreasing the excess heat of the sickness. Josh had fallen asleep quickly after the embrace began, but Aidan tried his hardest to stay awake so he could savor the intimacy.

Aidan had not been intimate with anyone in quite some time. Sure, he had had sex, but it wasn't _real_ intimacy. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure this was _real_ intimacy, either. But it **felt** like it was, and that was enough. For now.

Eventually, Aidan drifted off; he was far too comfortable to stay awake.

* * *

><p>A hard thumping sound echoed through the house. Aidan woke slowly and the sound came again, louder this time. Fearing it may wake Josh, Aidan slowly moved from his resting place and left his room.<p>

The sound was coming from the front door. Someone was there. But they weren't expecting anyone and since the invention of the cell phone, who stops by someone's house anymore?

Aidan answered the door, and to his surprise, Jesse was standing on the doorstep. Holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Hi... Jesse?" Aidan was still somewhat asleep and he was unbelievably confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, nothing. Is Josh home?" Jesse was acting strangely hyper and he was trying to look around Aidan into the house.

"Yeah," Jesse's focus snapped to Aidan, "but he's upstairs asleep." The little man's mouth opened, but Aidan spoke over him, "And he's not feeling well. What did you need?"

"Oh... I just wanted to say... Nevermind. I'll come back later."

Aidan looked down at the flowers and saw a note hanging off of them. "What's this?" he asked as he reached out to grab the piece of paper.

Jesse tried to turn away, but Aidan was too quick and he had the small man and the note firmly in his grasp in under a second. "It's nothing, just a... uh... 'Get Well Soon' card."

It wasn't. It was an invitation. Aidan read it aloud: "_'Wanna see a movie?'_ " Aidan stopped and laughed to himself for a moment. "Seriously? You're asking him to go to a movie with a bouquet of flowers?"

Aidan had complete control of the situation and he was actually being quite frightening. His grip on the small man was tightening and Jesse felt a strong need to flee. "Yeah... I'm just going to go." Aidan loosened his grip on the man's arm, but he still held the flowers. "Okay, so..." Jesse let go of the bouquet and stepped back, "You just want to make sure he gets those?" Aidan was silent. "Cool. Yep. See you later." Jesse backed down the steps and walked away as fast as he could without running.

Aidan stood there for a moment, bewildered. A guy was trying to ask Josh out. On a date. A real date. Like, dinner and a _movie_, date.

"So..." Aidan had completely forgotten about Sally. "That was awkward, right?"

Aidan turned around. "Yeah... I'm just going to get rid of these."

"Whoa, whoa. Hold your horses there, cowboy. You have to at least show them to Josh."

"Why? You don't think he'd actually be interested. Do you?" Aidan was in a tight spot. There was no way he was going to openly admit to Sally that he was beginning to **maybe** have feelings for Josh, but he also knew she was going to make him give a reason before he got rid of the evidence of Jesse's advances.

"That doesn't really matter, does it? It'll either be something he's interested in or it will give him an ego boost. Either way, it's a win."

"Not necessarily..." Aidan had to think on his feet now, which was not easy considering he had just had some of the best sleep he'd had in a while and he was still slightly dazed from the new, crazy situation. "What if this makes him think that girls don't go after him because he gives off a gay vibe? He'll turn all macho and we both know that when his time of the month rolls around he could rip someone to shreds."

"Aidan," Sally looked at him condescendingly. "You know that is so not likely. I don't see why you have such a problem with this. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Aidan could see she was getting close to what _might_ _be_ the truth.

"Unless. You like Josh!"

"Would you keep it down?"

"Oops," Sally lowered her voice to a loud whisper. "This is so exciting! And gross... but exciting!"

"Chill out, Sally. It's not like anything is going to happen." Even Aidan could hear the disappointment in his voice as he said it.

"You don't know that."

"Sally... Can we just forget about it? Please?" Aidan looked directly into her eyes and saw that she would let it go. For now.

Aidan walked to the kitchen and opened the trash can to dump the flowers. "Wait," Sally called before he dropped them into the bin. "At least keep the flowers." She pointed at a vase on the counter that Josh used as a centerpiece often.

"Fine," Aidan grumbled, not wanting to have any token of the other man present. He ripped the note off the bouquet and tore it to pieces before sprinkling it in the garbage.

"Little melodramatic, don't you think?" Sally criticized.

"You're one to talk." Aidan was clearly not in the greatest mood right now, so Sally decided to let it slide. Besides, it was a little true.

Aidan put the flowers in the vase and filled it with water before heading back upstairs. Rounding the corner to his room, his mood was drastically lifted. Josh had woken up slightly due to his roommate's absence. Groggily, he asked, "Where'd you go?"

"There was a solicitor at the door." Aidan crawled back to the other side of the bed and lay down. "Go back to sleep."

Josh grabbed Aidan's hands and pulled them back around him. "Okay. Good night." Josh drifted out of consciousness swiftly, but Aidan's mind was still swimming with what-ifs.

What if he asks Josh out and he freaks out? It could ruin their friendship. It could ruin what they have together. Is that really worth the risk? He can't stay clean without Josh anymore. He can't **live** without Josh anymore.

But, what if he asks Josh out and he accepts? Sure, they'd be happy, for a while. But, couples always end up fighting; and, with the crazy things that go on in their lives, it's bound to break them up. If they break up, it could ruin their friendship. And Aidan can't live without Josh.

What if he says nothing? Aidan sees the possibility now. He doesn't know if he can maintain the friendship he had before when he knows that he wants more. And if he can't keep this friendship going, he doesn't know if he'll survive.

Josh tugged on Aidan's arm unconsciously, ending the deep - and more than a little depressing - thoughts. Aidan realized that he might as well just enjoy this while it lasted. Josh felt good in his arms and everything was good between them. That was enough. For now.


	7. Falling

Josh woke to a distantly familiar smell and a warm blanket where his chilly roommate had been earlier. Opening his eyes, he saw Aidan sitting cross-legged on the floor with a steaming bowl of soup.

"Morning, sunshine," Aidan greeted his friend with a wide grin. It was a strange choice of words, both of them knew it, but its oddity wasn't acknowledged. "I made you some soup."

Josh took in a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Eight," Aidan began and Josh nodded, "in the morning." Josh got a really confused look on his face and Aidan felt the need to continue speaking. "You slept all day yesterday. How do you feel?"

"Better... ish." Josh was still fatigued and he was a little nauseous, but the fever was gone for the most part and he could sit up. "It's a good thing we took two days off, huh?"

"Yeah. Soup?" He pushed the bowl forward as an offering. Pulling himself up against the headboard of the bed, Josh accepted the warm bowl and began to eat.

"You know," he said between slurps, "I'm fine now. You can go out and do stuff if you want. It **is** your day off."

"Nah. I don't have anything else to do today." There was a pause where Josh didn't really know what to say and Aidan just looked at him adoringly. "So... what do **you** want to do today?"

"I'll probably just watch some TV and try to recuperate." Josh finished the bowl of soup and set it on the night stand. He shifted his weight and pulled the quilt up around his shoulders, preparing to get up.

"Are you sure you're ready to stand?" Aidan said, concerned.

"Yeah." Josh pushed himself up off the bed with a little too much speed and wavered greatly on his feet. Aidan swiftly rose and caught him, steadying him by pulling their bodies close together. "Thanks..."Josh breathed, not moving a muscle.

Aidan stared straight into Josh's eyes for some time, eventually shaking his head to bring himself back into reality. "Yeah." He slowly let Josh go, making sure he could stand on his own.

"Downstairs, then?" Josh asks, and Aidan nods. Josh walks ahead and Aidan follows, making sure that his friend doesn't fall.

Sally quietly materialized behind Aidan and whispered elatedly into his ear, "Aren't you excited? You get a whole other day with your **'bf'**."

Aidan turned to glare at her and, just at that moment, Josh tripped over a part of the blanket dragging on the floor and fell, heading straight for the stairs. Aidan heard a small yelp escape from the man and moved so quickly that time seemed only to go at half speed.

With a sudden movement at the base of the stairwell, Aidan swept Josh up and spun him around without the werewolf ever having touched the ground. "Are you okay?" Aidan was breathing heavily and staring intently into Josh's shocked eyes.

After a moment used to compose himself and get over the fact that Aidan was gripping him unbelievably tight, Josh responded softly, "Yeah, I-I'm fine." Aidan relaxed and absentmindedly stroked Josh's messy hair, smiling in relief.

"Aidan?" Josh asked, not entirely sure he wanted to, "Could you maybe, you know... let me go?"

"Oh," Aidan suddenly realized he was petting Josh's hair. "_Oh!_ Sorry!" He quickly pulled away and let Josh pull himself up off the landing.

Sally popped in, clearly alarmed. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah," Aidan responded. "We're fine."

"You know," Josh said, trying to make light of the whole situation, "we should really put like a neon sign next to those stairs so people stop falling down them."

Sally and Aidan both gave him a look that said 'too far', but then they looked at each other, realized that it was Josh they were dealing with, and gave a little laugh.

Aidan walked over to the TV and pulled out a few of Josh's DVDs. "What do you want to watch?"

Josh walked over slowly, still basking in the weirdness of everything that just happened. "I don't know. Just pick something."

"How about this, _Creature from the Black Lagoon_?"

Josh's eyes grew huge and he moved as quickly as he could to try to grab the movie from Aidan's hands. Of course, he failed. "Nope! Pick another one." Aidan smirked and gave Josh a look of intrigue. "Please?"

"What's so bad about this movie? I've seen it before, it's not that terrible."

"No, come on. Just pick another one."

"Why? Are you **afraid** of the Creature?"

"No! Aidan, just give me the movie." Josh's face was getting desperate and Aidan could tell that it would escalate in a way he didn't want if he pushed this; so, he let it go and gave Josh the movie.

"Okay, what about _Star Wars_?"

Josh was still fumbling to push the other movie well under the couch cushions. "Which one?"

"_A New Hope_."

"Sure." Aidan slid the disc into the DVD player on the front of the TV. Josh was curled up on the long couch beneath his blanket. Aidan turned from the TV and stood there, just fidgeting with the DVD case for a minute and thinking about his what-ifs again. Josh gave him a strange look, patted the seat next to him, and asked, slightly laughing at the strangeness, "Are you going to sit?"

"Huh?" Aidan snapped back to reality. "Oh, yeah." Aidan walked over to the couch and plopped down next to Josh, leaving only about an inch of space between them on the four-person couch. It was completely comfortable; until Josh shifted and their bodies brushed together.

Josh inhaled quickly and spoke, "You want some popcorn? Of course you don't. Ha-ha, what was I thinking? I'm going to get some popcorn." Josh stood and practically ran to the kitchen with his head down. He grabbed a bag of popcorn from one of the cabinets and put it in the microwave. Grabbing a large bowl from another cupboard, Josh noticed the flowers sitting on the counter. He knew he didn't buy them and Sally couldn't touch anything; so that left Aidan. But Aidan doesn't like flowers. So how did they get there?

The microwave timer went off and Josh pulled out the movie snack. Carrying the large bowl out to the living room, he asked, "Where did the flowers come from?"

Sally, now sitting on the far end of the couch, gave Aidan a look of disapproval, knowing he was going to lie. "I... uh... I got them from a neighbor this morning when I was taking out the trash." Sally rolled her eyes and Aidan glared at her.

"Oh. That's nice. Who gave them to you?" Josh wasn't all that intrigued - he figured it was just some girl in the neighborhood that Aidan had flirted with - but the triumphant look on Sally's face following his question tipped him off to the fact that something was up.

"It was Mrs. Flannigan." Aidan said, lying much better this time.

"That little, old lady from across the street? Well that was nice. Was there some reason she gave them to you?" Josh had no clue what was going on, but he figured he may as well keep asking questions because Sally's devious smile was growing as he continued to talk.

"Nope." Aidan was growing tired of the lying, but he was getting smoother. Hopefully he could cover his tracks effectively. "She was just cutting some to put inside and when I told her you were sick she gave me some flowers to help you feel better."

The whole discussion started to seem more than a little worthless, so Josh let it go. "That's sweet of her." Josh put on his best British accent - which wasn't all that good - and asked, "Shall we start the movie, sir?"

Aidan smirked, relieved he had gotten away with the flower incident, and, in a much better accent than Josh, he declared, "Quite so, good chap. Let's begin." The two laughed softly at their small charade and Aidan hit play on the remote.

Sally squealed, "Oh, you guys, it has been forever since I saw this movie!" Aidan gave her a look and it took her a moment to get it. He was asking her to leave, politely. "But I didn't really like it that much, so... I'm just going to go see Danny. Bye!" She misted out of the room, leaving the pair alone for their last day off together.

The opening credits rolled through and Josh stared at them intently, reading every word. Aidan stared at Josh intently, watching his mouth form every word that appeared on the screen. After all of the words had passed, Josh turned toward his friend and Aidan's head snapped up, meeting Josh's eyes and smiling.

"You know," Josh started, "the monsters in these movies make us look normal." Josh laughed, and Aidan followed suit.

"I think we look pretty normal anyways." Aidan responded, resting his arm on the back of the sofa and turning his whole body toward the man curled up beside him.

Josh munched on his popcorn and they watched the movie, laughing at every little joke or extra dramatic situation. Josh finished the snack and Aidan placed the bowl on the coffee table so Josh didn't have to move from his spot under the quilt on the couch.

Josh let out a loud sneeze which echoed off all the walls in the house. Aidan looked at him with a worried expression. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you need some more medicine?"

"No, Aidan, really. I'm fine." But he was already gone, up the stairs to get the medicine. Just as Aidan disappeared up the staircase, a knock came at the door. Josh rose slowly to his feet and walked over to answer it.

"Oh. Hey, Jesse." Aidan could hear Josh talking from upstairs and he had a minor panic attack. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to stop by and see... How are you feeling?"

"I'm good... Why?" Aidan was at the bottom of the stairs now, listening closely to the conversation. He couldn't quite bring himself to stop it, knowing it would give him away.

"Well, when I was here yesterday -"

Josh cut him off, "You were here yesterday?"

"Yeah... Aidan told me you were sick. Did you get my flowers?"

"No-" Josh realized that was where the flowers in the kitchen were from and now he understood why Sally was so excited when he was asking Aidan those questions, "I mean yeah. I got them. There in the kitchen. Thanks."

"So... ?" Jesse was asking Josh a question that Josh didn't even really understand the context of.

"So... What?"

"What do you say? To my offer?"

"What offer?" Josh was getting more and more confused as the conversation went on.

"My offer to take you to a movie. What do you say?"

"Oh... **Oh**! You mean... like a date?" Josh was shocked. He really shouldn't have been; he had seen the way Jesse was looking at him during the neighborhood watch party and his flirting was as smooth as sandpaper.

"Well, yeah. What do you think? Go with me?"

"Sorry, Jesse... I can't."

"Oh..." Jesse's face dropped. "Okay. I understand." There was a substantial awkward silence between the two. "Just tell me one thing."

"Okay. What?"

"What's the deal with you and Aidan?"

"What do you mean?" Josh was confused again.

"Well... Are you two together, or what?"

"Together as in... ?" Josh crossed his fingers in the childish sign for a relationship. Jesse nodded his head and Aidan's ears perked behind the wall.

"No… No?" Josh wanted to state it as a fact, but he couldn't help but wonder.

"Well, it's just that yesterday - when I was over here, trying to ask you out - he got really intense and kind of scary. Like, possessive, you know?"

"_What_? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I mean, I almost ran away after I knocked just now because I thought if he answered again he might just rip my throat out."

Josh reveled in the new information. Aidan was possessive of him. Did that mean something? Did that mean Aidan felt something like what Josh was feeling?

"Anyways, if there's nothing between you two, why won't you go out with me?"

It was a little offensive to Josh that Jesse didn't seem to think that him being straight was not a possible reason for not wanting to go out with another man. But he decided to disregard that point in favor of the other, more prominent thought in his mind. "Honestly? If there is something there, I want to be open for it."

"Okay. I get that. But, if you ever get tired of wondering and waiting around, give me a call." Jesse smiled and walked away, leaving Josh standing at the door with so many questions.

Aidan walked around the corner with a spoon full of medicine. "Who was that?" he asked innocently.

"Huh? Oh, no one. Medicine?" Josh walked over and, instead of taking the spoon, he just opened his mouth and let Aidan feed it to him. "Thanks. Back to the movie?"

"Yeah." They walked back over and flopped down on the couch. This time, Josh was staring at Aidan while he watched the movie. Aidan felt the heat of his friend's gaze and turned to meet it. "What?"

"I was just thinking..." Josh wasn't sure how to approach the subject. Aidan gave him a questioning look, but he couldn't speak.

They stared at each other, trying to figure out who should speak first. Aidan took mercy on his friend and broke the silence. "Are you trying to ask me something?"

"Um... No... Are you trying to ask me something?"

"I'm just asking you if you want to ask me something."

"Oh... well... that's what I was going to ask you too, so... yeah..." A long, awkward silence ensued and just as they prepared to break eye contact, someone started yelling.

"Oh for God's sake you two!" Sally had been watching and she decided she'd had enough of their ridiculous back and forth. "Josh: Aidan likes you and he scared Jesse away yesterday because he wants you all for himself. Aidan: Josh likes you back but he thinks you're too much of a ladies' vamp to ever like a scruffy little werewolf like him. Now, both of you quit being so stupid and just ask each other out!" Sally evaporated out of the room, her command echoing in the charged air.

Both of their eyes were wide and neither one of them shifted their gaze away from the spot where Sally had been. They were afraid to look at each other after all their dirty laundry and insecurities had been aired by their meddling ghost.

"So..." Josh said, realizing they couldn't stay silent forever. "Is that true? Do you like me?"

"Of course I like you."

"You know what I mean. Do you **like** me?"

"Do you like me?"

"That's not fair. I asked you first."

"I asked you second. So what?"

"Fine. Aidan," he looked straight into his friend's eyes, "I like you."

Aidan took a deep breath and smiled. "I know." Josh scoffed and broke eye contact at the remark. Aidan pulled his friend's face back to him. "I'm pretty sure I don't like you..." Josh got really confused for a second and Aidan leaned in so there was less than an inch between them. "But I do think… I love you."


	8. Kissing Him

**A/N:** Just in case you haven't assumed this yet, my story is set after the third episode but before the fourth episode, but I pushed the Sally seeing Josh transform thing back in time, so sorry to everyone who is obsessed with stuff being aligned with canon. Also, I ignored the fact that Josh said he wasn't going to change in the cage room anymore (stopping him from meeting Ray, for now). I was just going to end the story, but then I watched some more of the episodes and they gave me story ideas and I decided I couldn't just leave it at them maybe sort of kind of possibly being together because they declared their liking of each other. Anyways, hope you like the continuation, thanks for reading/reviewing, etc. (Sorry about long A/N)

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><p><strong>Josh's Point of View<strong>

I… cannot… believe this…

Right now I am sitting on this frumpy, dingy orange couch, **making out with my best friend the vampire.**

Sure, we started with small pecks and slight hand movements, but now? We are mackin' like nobody's business. After the first, unbelievably soft and ridiculously chaste, kiss, we both sighed enormous sighs and I thought we were done kissing for a while. I _thought_ we were going to talk. I was wrong.

Instead of talking, Aidan moved the hand that he had already placed on my face to the back of my neck and pulled me in for another, more passionate, kiss. I was a little shocked - in a good way - and I left my mouth open just wide enough that he probably thought it was an invitation. So, he slipped his tongue into my mouth, and we kissed until we both ran out of breath.

This time Aidan stopped like he was about to speak, but I, in my infinite wisdom and admittedly awkward cadence, rose up onto my knees and pushed him down onto back, smashing our lips together and pushing his mouth open with my own. I could tell he was a little surprised, but I didn't care. In fact, while I'm here, kissing him, I don't care about a lot of things: I don't care that I am a mess; I don't care that I have to go back to work tomorrow; I don't care that we have to thank Sally later; hell, I don't care if Sally's watching; and I really, really don't care that we're making out on top of my special DVD.

"Hey," Aidan says, breaking our kiss and my train of thought. "What do you say we move this _**elsewhere**_?" I can see the innuendo in his eyes. Actually, I can see it pouring out of every pore on both of our bodies. But, I don't know if I'm ready to take it that far.

Don't get me wrong, I've had sex before. I'm no virgin. The problem is that I'm afraid of all the issues that might come up if we do _that_. Sure, there's the what-does-this-mean, the who's-room-are-we-using, and, of course, the who's-on-top situation - which I have a feeling I'm going to lose - but there's a bigger problem: what if the wolf comes out while we're doing _it_? I could tear Aidan apart. I couldn't live with myself if I did that. See, I haven't had sex since it happened to me two years ago, but who knows? Even now, while we're making out, I can feel the wolf, just under the surface.

"Aidan… I…" He could tell I didn't want to go that far yet, so - thank God - he just goes back to kissing me. But, he does take control now, rolling us over so that he is lying on top of me. "Was your manhood feeling threatened?" I joke, giggling- **LAUGHING**. I did **not** just giggle…

No, yeah, I did. I just giggled because, right now, Aidan is the guy and I am the girl. But that's okay because I got to be the guy first and I'll do it again later.

Sally clearly didn't trust us enough because she just materialized on the coffee table, sitting cross-legged and staring us down. "Good to see you two actually took my advice." She says 'advice,' but what she really means is command. I try to ignore her and continue our make out session, but Aidan stops and turns his head. I swear to God. I think Sally is the **only** thing in the entire universe that he is afraid of. He'll never say it, but I know.

At first I just try to regain his attention by kissing up his neck, but that doesn't work, so I glare at Sally. "Do you mind?" I ask angrily. Aidan's attention snaps back to me and he looks shocked. I feel the house start to tremble a little, signaling Sally's frustration. But, she throws up her arms in surrender and mists away, so I go back to kissing my… Aidan. I don't know what I'm supposed to call him. But, like I said earlier: when I'm kissing him, I don't really care.

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><p><strong>Aidan's Point of View<strong>

Ugh… Finally…

I know, I know: I kind of _**just**_ figured out that I like him this way, but it took us _**forever**_ to get to the good stuff.

We started _**so slow**_. I told him I loved him and I gave him a prolonged but definitely innocent peck on the lips to make sure he felt the same. _Oh_, but now! He is getting into it and I am feeling _**good**_. _My_ _God_, his lips were so soft that after that first kiss I had to take a breath. It wasn't just his lips, though. He had accepted my offer, and then I had to be ready to finalize the deal.

I ran my hand around to the back of his neck, pulling him back in for a stronger kiss. He seemed to be ready and he opened his mouth slightly, inviting me in. We tongue kissed for quite some time. I could tell he was out of breath, so I allowed him to pull away. I could tell that I had sealed the deal effectively, so I was ready to talk.

After only a moment's respite, Josh rose up onto his knees, placed his warm hands on my shoulders, and pushed me into a lying position on the couch, kissing me so fiercely that I could already feel the bruises forming. I was shocked, but that felt good, it felt _**right**_. While we kiss, everything feels right. Regardless of my being a monster, regardless of my thirst for blood, regardless of Bishop and Marcus and all the other vampires, regardless of all the ways my life sucks - no pun intended - _**everything feels right.**_

Now I realize that he probably wants to take this to the next level. I don't know if I'm ready, but if he is, then I'm willing. "Hey," I start, breaking the intense kissing, "What do you say we take this _**elsewhere**_?"

There's an awful pause after I ask the question and I feel like I may have made a mistake. That question is going to bring some problems to the surface. It'll bring the usual relationship issues like where they'll sleep and who gets to be on top - which I know I'll win - but I'm more concerned with the bloodlust issue. I know that all the other vampires say that werewolf blood is repulsive, and I mostly agree, but with Josh… It's like I've grown to tolerate - no, not just tolerate - I've grown to _**like**_ the smell of Josh. I fear this may mean that I could try to feed on him while we consummate our relationship.

Josh's face gets a little concerned, and then he breaks the silence, "Aidan… I…" _**Oh, thank God!**_ He isn't ready either. I am so relieved… _but_, I do want to keep kissing him. So, following my instincts, I roll us over and peck quickly just before I feel him giggling - he is such a girl. "Was your manhood feeling threatened?" He asks playfully. I don't know what he's talking about.

No, that's not true. I do know what he's talking about; and, he's right. But that's okay, because I was dominant first, and I can work on letting him have control later.

Sally, that meddling and distrustful ghost, popped back into the room to check up on us. She stared at us from the coffee table. "Good to see you two actually took my advice." Her 'advice' wasn't really as subtle as she probably thinks it was, but I was thankful for it. I stop making out with Josh and turn my head to politely ask Sally to leave, but Josh is kissing at my neck and it feels so good I can't even think straight. Josh is probably pissed. He loves Sally, but he gets irate when she just pops in like this.

Josh stops kissing my neck and I'm about to speak, but I see the aggravated glare on Josh's face and he speaks before I can: "Do you mind?" The irritation in his voice is practically tangible. Sally's face - and the localized trembles of the earth - show her frustration with his tone. But, she is in a good enough mood that she throws up her arms in a congratulatory way and evaporates from the room. Josh pulls me back into kissing. My mind enters rapture and the troubling world melts away. Like I said: when I'm kissing him, everything feels right.

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><p><strong>AN:** Sorry again about the long author notes, but I just had to say that I had sooo much fun writing this chapter.


	9. It's Been One Week

It has been almost a week since they made out, and nothing major has happened between them after that first time. They look at each other longingly, share long embraces after they get home from work, and cuddle on the couch while they watched TV; but, they haven't even been sleeping in the same bed.

After popping in on their make-out session, Sally resigned to let them figure it out on their own. However, with Josh's awkwardness and Aidan's excessive chivalry, she is beginning to see that she may need to intervene again.

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><p>The morning of the day exactly one week after what I refer to as the incident, Sally pops in on me, lying awake, waiting for Josh to come and coax me out of bed for work. She states rather than asking, "Big day."<p>

I turn my head and give her a look of what must be utter confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"It's been a week since…" I get the message. "So, are you going to do something?"

"No. Why? _Should_ I do something?" I suddenly have a panic attack. If I've overlooked some unspoken rule about dating - or whatever it is that Josh and I are doing - in this decade, I need to know.

She taunts, "Well, I mean, you _**are**_ the guy in the relationship, right?" I **am** the guy in the relationship. I think. But, I still don't understand what she is telling me to do.

"Yeah. So… What is it I should do, exactly?"

"I don't know. Make him dinner, light some candles, play a little Barry Manilow… All that romantic stuff. Have you never seen a romantic comedy?" I don't think I can handle any of those things. First of all, I have never seen a romantic comedy, so how am I supposed to know these things? Plus, I don't taste the same way as him, so how do I know if what I make him will taste good? I don't even know where to buy candles. And who the hell is Barry Manilow?

Sally has been waiting a minute now and I can tell she expects a response. "Actually, no, I haven't. Can you help me?"

"Oh no," Sally shakes her finger at me. "You have to do this by yourself. Google it." She vanishes and now I am **freaking** **out**. I have to plan something perfect. Josh deserves nothing less than perfect and I'm not entirely sure I can give that to him. And what exactly does "goo glit" mean?

* * *

><p>Sally materializes next to me in the kitchen while I'm making my toast. "Hey, Sally!" I am so excited that I am actually bouncing up and down with joy thinking about my plans for the day.<p>

"Okay, Mr. Hyper. Had enough coffee this morning?" I'm pretty sure that was a rhetorical question, so I don't answer. "What are you so excited about?"

"Well," I wash the bread crumbs off my hands so I can speak more expressively, "it's been exactly a week since me and Aidan… You know." She nods her head and has a strange look on her face. I have to pause to try to read her expression, but when I can't, I decide to just continue talking. "Yeah, well, I planned a super romantic night and I am just super psyched for us to have a… date. Yep, I said it. I'm planning a date. For me and Aidan. Can you believe it?"

Sally's face still has that weird look on it and I'm beginning to think it looks a little like shock mixed with… something. Anyway, after a moment of silence, she snaps her jaw shut and then says in what I can only describe as a weakly excited tone, "No. But… That's great. For you guys. I'm going to go now. Yeah. Bye." She mists away quickly to God knows where to do God knows what.

I look at the time and see that it's already 7:05. We have to be at the hospital by eight, so I need to go wake him up. I grab the blood that I warmed up for him in a coffee mug and head upstairs to his room.

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><p>Josh and I get to the hospital this morning and right after we get inside and he gets to work I sprint to the nurses' station. I have to get the day off so I can plan our… date. "Good morning," the head nurse says in a sing-songy voice. She is an older woman, and she is generally very sweet. <em>But<em>, she is also very strict.

"Morning, Maria. Hey, I know I'm supposed to work today, but something came up and I kind of need the day off." No one in the hospital knows that me and Josh are together and I am getting worried that I may need to compel Maria to give me the day off.

"Honey, you know I can't just let people take the day off without any notice. If I allowed that then we'd end up with no nurses in the hospital one day." I do my best to give her a desperate and pleading look. Josh is better at this, but I can manage in a tight spot. "Okay," she breaks and I am so glad that I'm not going to have to compel her. "Just tell me what's so important you need to take the day off and I'll get your shift covered."

This is a delicate situation. If I tell someone that me and Josh are together, he will have a conniption fit and I will be the object of his rage. Of course, I am going to have to come up with something good to tell Maria. "I have an important date." I figure the truth, even if it is slightly abridged, is the best route to getting the day off.

"A date? You want me to let you off for the day for a _**date**_?" Yeah… I should've seen that coming. But, I think I can push this and still get her to cave.

"Maria," I touch her arm, not compelling her, but definitely laying on the charm, "Have you ever felt like someone was _the one_?"

She seems to be submitting. "Yes… My husband. When we met, all I wanted to do was spend time with him. In fact, I took my vacation days for the whole first week we were together." She drifts off into her memory for a moment and then snaps back to reality. "Okay. Take the day off. But make sure you give more notice next time."

I am relieved and I back away, clasping my hands in gratitude. "Thank you so much. Oh! And don't tell Josh that I'm gone."

I can see that she is beginning to put that piece together with my "important date," but it'll only be gossip and that's spread since the day I got Josh the orderly job. I get out of the hospital as quickly as possible without being seen by anyone. Now I have to figure out where I am going to get candles, what I'm going to make for dinner, how to get Barry Manilow's music, and what all I'm supposed to do to make this a romantic night. It's going to be a long day.

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><p>I was so excited on the car ride to work that I had to talk about all the episodes of NOVA that I've been watching so that I wouldn't tell him about my plans for tonight. Fortunately, he just ran off to the nurses' station instead of walking to the locker room with me so I don't have to hold my tongue anymore. I mean, I'm not going to tell everyone in the hospital that I'm having a date with Aidan tonight. I <strong>might<strong> tell everyone that I have a _date_ tonight, though.

Everything is ready. I'm going to eat at the hospital and get off work a little early so I can make it home before him. Then I'm going to go up to my room, get out the amazingly soft white sheets I just got, light the unscented candles that I bought (I know he doesn't like the frou-frou candle scents), lay out rose petals all over the bed, take a shower, and get into my sexy clothes.

In the locker room, one of the other orderlies sees the stupid grin on my face and asks that question that I feel may be following me around today: "What are you so excited about?"

"Huh?" I'm such a brilliant linguist. Not awkward at all. "I… uh… I have a… date." I smile awkwardly and he pats me on the back.

"Sweet, dude. Hot one?"

"Yeah…" I feel the stupidity rolling off of me in waves, but I really don't care. I'm too excited. He walks away and I put my backpack in my locker. After I finish locking up my stuff, I walk out to the hallway to the nurses' station to find out what they need me to do today.

Maria, the nice head nurse, is sitting behind the counter staring at her computer screen when I walk up. "Morning, Maria," I emit jubilantly. I swear this smile is not going to leave my face for a week.

"Morning, sweetie." Aidan is always going on about how she can be a real bitch to people, but she has always been super nice to me. "What are you so excited about?" There's the question again. Does it say that on my face? I'll check later.

"Oh… nothing…" She gets a look on her face that expresses her knowing that was a lie, so I happily blurt out, "I have a date."

"Good for you, honey. Who is it? Anyone from the hospital?"

I'm not going to tell her that it's Aidan, but I'm not going to lie, either. "Yes, but I can't tell you who, so don't bother asking." Maria is a major gossip. If she finds out, the whole hospital will know in twenty minutes.

"Okay," she says a little disappointed. "So many people have dates today. It's a little ridiculous for a Sunday." There she goes, gossiping again. I take the bait, though.

"Who else has a date today?"

"Oh, sweetie, if you're not going to tell me who you're going with I'm not going to tell you who all's having a dates tonight. It takes gossip to get gossip." I'm really not all that interested, so I get my to do list for the day and get to work. I'm still so excited for tonight and I'm going to have to explain my excitement a lot. It's going to be a long day.

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><p>Okay, I found a flower store and bought an arrangement for the centerpiece for dinner and I got about twenty scented candles. I hate the smells, but Josh loves them, so I will just have to deal with it.<p>

At the bookstore, I find a Barry Manilow CD. Apparently he's some sort of generically romantic singer, because the checker asks if I'm planning on getting laid tonight. Even though I thought her choice of words was extremely rude, she seems to know more about modern romanticism than I do. "Okay. So what should I get?"

"Oh, no. I didn't mean that you shouldn't get this. In fact, a lot of girls think it's really sweet. You know, like you're cute because you're trying so hard to make it like they do in the movies."

I know I should correct her on the point that my date isn't a girl, but it seems like a waste of time, and I have already spent a lot of the day finding the right flowers and getting this CD. I need to go make a nice dinner before I have to go pick Josh up from the hospital. So, I thank the checker and drive to the grocery store to get ingredients.

At the store, I realize that I have no clue what would make a romantic meal. So, I decide to make something I know I can make and I know he'll like: steak. I get some rolls, a potato, and wine to go with the meat. It's going to take me a little more time to grill the steak, so I check out and head home as quickly as possible.

Rushing in the door, I drop the candles on the couch and the groceries on the kitchen table. I have to put the flowers in a vase quickly so that they don't die, but immediately after I get those placed, I start the grill on the back porch.

Sally pops in while I'm preparing the potato to be baked. "Aidan! Where have you been?" She knew I was going to be getting everything ready for the date tonight, so I'm not really sure why she sounds so concerned.

"I was shopping. I got everything I need but I'm kind of in a rush to get it all ready. What's up?"

She seems to have some strange realization at that, and then she simmers down. "Well, tell me if I can help any."

"If you could just distract Josh when I bring him home so I can light the candles and put the finishing touches on everything, that would be great." That reminded me, I have to go pick Josh up. His shift ends in two hours so I need to leave within the next half hour so he thinks I was still at work today.

I take a quick shower and put on a nice button up shirt and my best pair of jeans under my scrubs. Grabbing my keys and waving goodbye to Sally, I practically run out the door to the car.

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><p>Two hours until our shifts are over, so I'm leaving for home now. On my way out of the hospital, I tell Maria that I'm going and ask her to tell Aidan that I took a cab home because I wasn't feeling well. I know I shouldn't lie to him, but the plans I've made for tonight are definitely going to make up for it.<p>

The cab ride home seems to take forever. I think through everything I have to do once I get back. Change the sheets, spread the flower petals, take a shower, get into my nice clothes, and light the candles.

When we finally pull up at the apartment, I pay the taxi driver and book it inside. Someone in the neighborhood must be grilling because something smells delicious. It's a good thing I ate at the hospital or I would be dying of hunger right now. Sally is standing right inside the door and she is smiling with some other strange expression on her face that I really don't have the time to read right now. "Hey, Sally. I'm going upstairs." If she wants to talk to me then she can follow, otherwise, I'm not going to give her the time of day right now.

Dashing up the stairs, I pull the new sheets out from under the bed. and strip off the sheets currently in place. Sally's in my room now, but she's just standing there, smiling, not talking. It's really beginning to bother me, so I break the silence, "What do you need, Sally?"

She shakes out of her stupor. "Nothing. Just excited for you guys' big night. Go back to what you're doing. I'm going out for the night." She snickers and dissipates from the room.

I finish the bed sheets quickly, shaking out the top sheet so it flows softly over the sides of the bed. I start by throwing the petals on the bed, but my OCD gets to me and I have to spread them out more evenly. I get them so they are just perfectly imperfect, and then I get in the shower. I take habitually long showers, so I have to stay vigilant this time to make sure I get out before Aidan gets home.

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><p>So I get to the hospital and look around for Josh, but I can't find him anywhere. I figure Maria must know, so I walk down to the nurses' station and ask her.<p>

"No, honey. He went home about an hour and a half ago. He said he wasn't feeling well."

Not feeling well? Shit. If he's sick tonight it could ruin our entire first date. "Did he look okay to you?" I know Maria is strict, but she would take any excuse from Josh. I swear, his big puppy-dog eyes are even more effective than compelling someone.

"Honestly, sweetie? He looked fine. But he really seemed like he needed to go, so I let it slide." Thank God. The night can still go off without a hitch. Except… if Josh is at home, he might see the stuff that I'm setting up for the date.

"Thanks, Maria." I bolt out of the hospital and jump in my car. I know I'm going to speed a lot on the way home, but to save the date, I'm perfectly fine with compelling a few cops.

When I get home, I hear the shower running upstairs. Josh takes a long time in the shower, but I don't know when he started, so I still have to move quickly to get the dinner finished, the candles lit, and the music turned on.

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><p>I finish up in the shower and dry off. I slip on my best pair of ass jeans and pull on a white satin button-up shirt. I light the candles and check the clock. 8:21. Aidan should be home in around five minutes. As I stop to take a breath, I hear music coming from downstairs. I head down to see what's going on, and, as I step of the last stair and into the living room, I see Aidan leaning against the back of a chair at the dinner table. There's candles all over the place, a large meal on the table, and a beautiful bouquet centerpiece. But, the thing I am most mesmerized by is him, standing there, staring at me with this elated look on his face. I know it's going to be a good night.<p> 


	10. Date Night

**A/N**: I felt like I should write this from one of the characters' perspectives, but then I started writing as one of them and I felt bad for not addressing the other point of view, so I wrote this chapter the same as I did with the kissing chapter where they both tell the story from their own point of view. Since Josh went first in the kissing chapter, Aidan goes first in this chapter. (Also, you could choose to read just one, it'll give you the story line, but if you read both you get both men's perspective on the situation.

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><p><strong>Aidan's Point of View<strong>

For a moment I thought I would die from the pungent odors of the scented candles. But, when Josh came down the stairs, his aroma filled the room and I felt suddenly at ease. The candle light flickers across his face and I can barely keep my composure. I smile as he gapes at the scene in some sort of bewildered wonder. I can tell that he is going to remain paralyzed until I act, so I pull out the chair that I am leaning on and invite him to sit.

As he shakes out of his confusion and walks slowly over to the seat, he looks at me with a slight sparkle in his eye and asks, "What's all of this?"

"It's been a week since our first night together, so I thought we should celebrate." I know I'll probably have to fess to it being Sally's suggestion eventually; but, for now, he can think that it was all my idea.

"Aidan, I…" He stops at the side of the chair and faces me, leaving only a small space between us. "Thank you." He gives me a slight and gentle kiss on the lips and then allows me to slide the chair in under him.

I take my seat across the corner of the table from his and pour us both a glass of wine. "Wine?" I offer, passing him the glass.

"Oh, so you're trying to get me drunk. I get it now," Josh jokes. He laughs at his own quip and I laugh with him. The gentle creases accompanying his amusement make me feel warm inside; which is something I haven't felt in a very long time.

The laughter dies down after a minute and I realize he still hasn't even touched his food. I'm beginning to wonder if I did something wrong. "Aren't you hungry?"

He looks down with some sort of sudden realization. "Oh, right," he says, picking up his utensils and carving away at the steak. He moves quickly at first, as he usually does at dinner; but, when he remembers the fact that we're on a date, he slows his pace substantially. He takes a far too large bite of steak and I raise my eyebrows at him, and he starts to laugh.

A choking noise comes from the back of his throat at the sudden laughter and I am instantly worried. I rise to my feet, but he waves his hand to dispel my concerns and he swallows quickly. "I'm fine, I'm fine," he coughs out between gasps of laughter. "Sit down; I'm not choking."

I sit, tentatively following his command. When I finally calm down, I say, extremely relieved, "Don't scare me like that." Josh laughs at my melodrama, but I can see he is happy to see that I am so fretful over him. "How does it taste?" I ask, silently hoping I didn't accidentally give him food poisoning.

"It's really good. Other than the choking, I mean." He is clearly joking, but I am finding a bit difficult to laugh at his brush with death. I know 'brush with death' seems a little excessive, but it's true. One thing you learn as an immortal is that life is fragile. I envy Josh's mortality, but I also feel the need to protect him from it.

I see he's cutting off another, even larger piece from the steak, and I put my hand on top of his forearm, "Maybe you should take smaller bites." At first he looks a little offended, probably thinking I am treating him like a child, but he quickly realizes that I am just worried he'll choke again and he obliges, cutting the piece in half before eating it.

After he swallows, he takes a deep breath through is nose. "Did you buy scented candles?" He inquires speculatively.

"Yeah. You like them, right?" I've told him before that I hate the smells.

"Yeah… But, you probably can't stand it. We should just put them out." He begins to stand but I put a hand on his shoulder and sit him back down.

"Josh. It's fine. Besides, I can't smell them over your wolf scent." He looks self-conscious all of a sudden and so I quickly reassure him. "No. Don't worry," I extend my hand and rest it on his forearm. "I like your scent."

He looks a little puzzled. "I thought vampires hated were-smell?" I look at him without responding and, after a long moment, he realizes that I like _**his**_ smell. A look of satisfaction washes over his face at the understanding and smiles his cute little smile.

It's a little strange: we usually talk about all sorts of random stuff at dinner, but tonight we seem to be unable to just talk. He eats and I watch, both of us wearing stupid grins. But, after a while, I feel like the silence needs to be broken, so I ask that most generic of questions: "Anything happen at work today?"

Josh finishes the bite of the potato he was chewing and starts in on one of his infamous work stories. "Okay, so I was wheeling Mr. Peterson - you know Mr. Peterson, right? The older guy with dementia and cancer? It's so sad." He stops for a moment to emphasize the sadness of the man's situation. But then he continues animatedly with his story. "Anyways, I was wheeling him down the hallway when we passed this nurse. She was wearing scrubs that were at least two sizes too small, so they were way to tight. Mr. Peterson noticed her _assets_, as if anyone couldn't have, and totally just reached over and grabbed her ass." I roar with laughter as he finishes his tale, and he laughs along with me.

By the time we've both finished laughing, Josh has finished the meal and leaned back in his chair, slowly drinking his wine. "So," I say, pushing the rest of the laughter out of my voice but retaining my large smile, "You want to go sit on the couch?"

He tips his glass back, finishing off the rest of his wine. Then, standing and grabbing my hand, he practically whispers, "I think I have a better idea." He pulls me up and practically drags me up the stairs, turning every few steps and meeting my eyes. I swear, he's almost being seductive.

"Josh, where are we -" My question gets cut off as we reach the door to his room and I see the undeniably romantic scene. There are rose petals and white sheets. Candlelight flickers and lights the room at varying intervals. There is a distinct lack of scent in the room, however; and, I realize that Josh has done the same thing I did. Just like I got the frou-frou candles for him, he got the unscented candles for me. I look at him adoringly and he returns the gaze. "So… Now what?"

I'm still a little concerned that I might lose control with him, but he reassures me with his eyes and his movements. He pulls me into the room and wraps his arms around my waist, kissing me gently. "That depends," he says between tasting my lips. "What do you want to do?"

He runs his hand up my back and I have to take a deep breath to keep from freaking out completely. "Josh… I…"

"It's okay," he whispers in my ear, gently swaying us back and forth. "I trust you."

* * *

><p><strong>Josh's Point of View<strong>

I can't believe the scene before my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of dates and courtship and chivalry and all that; but, I didn't think Aidan did. He's been around so long that I figured he must just be over all the trite little romantic gestures. But this. This is amazing. The music, the candles, the smell of the food, the way he's looking at me like I'm the only person in the world. It all makes me feel so… special.

He pulls out a chair and offers it to me. Pulling myself back out of my thoughts and into the real world, I walk over to the chair. "What's all of this?" I ask, gesturing to the various items of romance in the room.

"It's been a week since our first night together, so I thought we should celebrate." I am freaking out a little bit internally. There is very little chance that what I've put together upstairs will stack up to this huge romantic gesture. I'm suddenly realizing why Sally was looking so devious earlier: she knew we were both planning dates that the other knew nothing of.

I stop next to the chair, standing as close as I can to him without having us touch. "Aidan, I…" There's so much I want to say to him, but I can't find the words; so, instead, I kiss him lightly and whisper, "Thank you." I go to sit down and he slides the chair under me, practicing his chivalry like always. Even though it makes me feel good to have him be so protective, I sometimes feel like I act the part of the girl in the relationship **too** well.

Aidan sits down diagonally from me. I am lost in thought for a moment, and then he offers me a glass of wine. "Oh," I begin jokingly, "so you're trying to get me drunk. I get it now." Always the picture of social grace, I begin laughing at my own joke before he does. Aidan doesn't laugh all that often, but he will always laugh at my jokes, and his laughter always enhances my amusement.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asks as our laughter begins to die down. I suddenly realize that I haven't even touched my food yet. I did get around to eating at the hospital, so it's not like I'm starving; but everything smells so good that I begin to dig in.

I'm used to eating quickly since Aidan and Sally don't eat at dinner, so I am attacking my meal with very little manners. But, it occurs to me that this is a **date**, which means that I should not be eating this quickly. So I slow down. I cut off a piece of the steak that is far too large to chew, but I don't realize its size until it's in my mouth.

Seeing the amount of food I just took in, Aidan has a sort of shocked look on his face. I try to laugh, but all that comes out around the meat is a sort of choking sound. His expression goes from amused to concerned in under a second. He starts to stand, but I wave him back down and swallow hard. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I say between coughs. "Sit down; I'm not choking."

He sits with a speculative look on his face. After a moment of him examining me to make sure I'm okay, Aidan sighs, "Don't scare me like that." I have to laugh at his overly dramatic response to the relatively minor situation. It is nice to know that he is so concerned about me, though. "How does it taste?" he asks cautiously. I had completely forgotten that he has different taste than I do, so it was probably really difficult for him to tell if he was cooking the food correctly. It is good, not fantastic, but definitely better than would be expected. "It's really good," I say. No reason to sully the mood, right? Then I joke, "Other than the choking, I mean."

Just as I finish cutting another piece of the steak, Aidan places his hand on my arm. "Maybe you should take smaller bites." I look down and see that the piece I just cut off is even bigger than the one I choked on earlier, so, feeling his concern in the look in his eyes, I cut it in half and he removes his hand so I can continue eating.

After I swallow the smaller piece of meat, I take a deep, soothing breath in through my nose. A number of flowery scents fill my nostrils. Looking around the room, I realize that all of these candles are scented. "Did you buy scented candles?"

He looks just a little proud of himself. "Yeah. You like them, right?"

I feel both doted on and guilty. "Yeah… But, you probably can't stand it." I stand to stop the candles, saying, "We should just put them out."

He places his hand on my shoulder and gives me a non-verbal cue to sit back down. "Josh. It's fine. Besides, I can't smell them over your wolf scent." I'm suddenly very embarrassed. I just took a shower and I literally scrubbed every inch of my body. No matter how OCD I am, that wolf smell is probably never coming off of me. He must have noticed my flushed face, because he quickly reassured me, "No. Don't worry. I like your scent."

I am really confused now. "I thought vampires hated were-smell?" He looks at me with some sort of hidden meaning in his eyes. What is he trying to - Oh, okay. I get it. He likes _**my**_ smell. As in, 'even though I think most werewolves smell like mangy dogs, you smell nice because you are special to me.' I am so contented to have him imply my importance to him that a smile leaks out onto my face, and I'm afraid it may stay there forever.

We sit in silence for a while. I eat and Aidan watches me; pretty normal as far as we go. Then, out of nowhere, Aidan asks, "Anything happen at work today?"

I finish the food I have in my mouth and then immediately think of one of the funniest things that happened at work today. "Okay, so I was wheeling Mr. Peterson - you know Mr. Peterson, right? The older guy with dementia and cancer?" I know I'm awkward, but even I understood that was a little too insensitive, so I pause a moment to indicate the severity of the man's situation. "It's so sad. Anyways, I was wheeling him down the hallway when we passed this nurse. She was wearing scrubs that were at least two sizes too small, so they were way to tight. Mr. Peterson noticed her _assets_, as if anyone couldn't have, and totally just reached over and grabbed her ass." Aidan howled with laughter. I know it was funny, but I didn't think it was _**that**_ funny. But, his outburst of laughter forces me to laugh with him.

I finish eating and sip my wine while he continues to simmer down from the giggles. When he is finally done laughing, he asks, still smiling, "So… You want to go sit on the couch?"

Now's the time. I mentally prepare myself to take him upstairs. Then I realize there's wine in my hand and I tip the glass back, finishing off every last drop. I grab his hand and rise to my feet. "I think I have a better idea," I say, trying to put some innuendo in my voice.

I pull him up the stairs to the room, turning every so often and trying to be as sexy as possible. I don't think I have nearly the experience in this field as Aidan does. I'm also still a little concerned about the wolf, but I think I'm far enough from the full moon to control it. Of course, the adorably confused look on his face is quite reassuring.

"Josh, where are we -" he begins, but is cut off by the sight of the room. He seems lost in thought for a moment, but then he looks at me with a sort of vast intimacy in his eyes. "So…" he asks, "Now what?"

I pull him into the room and kiss him gently, wrapping my arms around his waist. "That depends," I say while I take a break from our gentle lip-lock. "What do you want to do?"

I trace my hand up his spine, and I feel his body stiffen slightly. "Josh… I…"

I can tell he is concerned about his self-control, so I start to sway us back and forth. "It's okay," I reassure him. "I trust you."

At least, as much as I trust myself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Okay, so I like showing the relationship from two perspectives, but the repetition of plot seems a bit redundant. What do you think? Should I keep writing with both POV's, or should I just choose one? And if I choose one, which one should I do?


	11. I Bet They End Up in Sex

**A/N**: Here's the plan. In chapters where plot development isn't deeply tied to emotions, I will write in the third-person omniscient. I'm going to continue to write in first-person from both POVs in chapters where the emotions or individual thoughts will count more towards the story. If you prefer, you may choose to read just one of the POVs as they will both give the plot.

Also, I'm sorry if this chapter seems a bit awkward; I'm not super great at writing sex scenes.

**Warning**: Graphic male/male sex scene. If you don't like it, don't read it. It does happen in relationships though, so I felt the need to write it.

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><p><strong>Josh's POV<strong>

Sex: I'm pretty sure I'm about to have it; and with Aidan, no less.

We're both concerned about our demons, so we start slow. I kiss him softly and he breaks contact. Then he kisses me and I pull away. We both go in for the third kiss and neither one of us is going to back down now. The kissing quickly rises to the intensity of that first time, on the couch. Again, I feel the wolf just under my skin, struggling to get out. It's daunting, but I can't stop now. I'm in this. No matter what.

I fall to the bed, pulling Aidan down on top of me. Our lips never break contact, but Aidan's hands move under my shirt from my hips up my back until they flatten out and pull our torsos together so tight that it gets a little hard to breath. I don't bother trying to push away, though; it feels too good for that.

Instead, I roll us over and grind my hips into him. I can tell he is a little surprised by my aggressive behavior - in fact, I'm a little surprised myself - but, he doesn't stop kissing me. He just slides one hand back down to my hip and assists my thrusts.

By now I have a raging hard on, and, even through four layers of clothing, I can tell he does too. The fact that there is fabric between us is beginning to piss me off. I don't know if it's me or if it's the wolf - or maybe a little of both - but I push up off of him and rip his shirt off, buttons flying everywhere and the seam along the back pulling apart. For a brief moment, a look of shock appears on his face, but then he smiles devilishly and his eyes turn black. I know I should be afraid, but I'm not. I look into those pitch black eyes and see my own reflected back. They are golden, practically glowing with some strange feral instinct.

He rips my shirt open; tearing it from my body in the same fashion I removed his. A part of me is angry that we just destroyed some of our best clothes, but I am much more concerned with increasing our bodily contact at this point. Pushing my bare torso against his, I can feel the heat from my body draining into him. The friction between our skin builds the heat to the point where his body is almost as warm as mine. "Aidan…" I growl, "More…"

He indulges me, ripping my pants open and sliding them off of me, then undoing his own and intertwining our legs. He rolls us back over so he is on top and begins to kiss his way down my neck to my chest. He gazes up at me for a brief moment and I nod along, seeing where this is going.

He pulls off my boxers and grips my cock. Sliding it into his mouth, I groan deeply and loudly. I feel his teeth graze lightly over my dick and let out a little yelp. He pulls away quickly, concerned. His eyes have reverted to their normal hazel coloring, which is a clear sign he's about to stop. But, I am still feeling the wolf coursing through my veins, and it gives me more than enough confidence to sit up, pull our bodies together, and kiss him passionately. When I pull away, his eyelids flutter open to reveal his pleasure in those intense, black spheres.

We both want more, but he is still hesitant to go back to _that_, so I decide to return the favor. I turn him around and push him down onto the bed. I kiss my way down his body from his neck to the base of his stomach, removing his underwear as I slide down him. I lick the tip of his head and tease a little before pulling him into my mouth. He groans and weaves his fingers through my hair, urging me on. After some time, I feel the need for more bodily contact.

While I lift myself back up off of him, Aidan lets out a low grunt, disapproving of my departure from the previous activity, but as I lie down on top of him and align our cocks in my fist, he returns to his pleasured moans. "What's this?" he asks, motioning to our crotches.

I'm a little embarrassed internally because I learned about this on Wikipedia, but I'm more proud of myself because I know something about _this_ that he doesn't. "What?" I ask innocently. "You didn't know about frotting?"

He gives me a puzzled look, but when I rub them together through my hand, his eyes roll back and he moans again. We are connected along the full length of our bodies, and friction of our frottage is not limited to our cocks. Since I was just giving him a blow job, Aidan comes first. However, the pulsing of his orgasm causes me to come shortly after.

The warm, viscous fluid covers his stomach, and as I lay down on top of him, it covers me as well. I'm breathing heavily, exhausted from the waves of ecstasy that had rolled through me. His chest lifts and lowers me, and I can tell that he is worn out from the event, too. Suddenly, the pace of his chest's movement becomes hastened and erratic. As I become more aware of this change, I can hear his soft chuckling in my ear. 'What's so funny?" I ask, slightly offended.

"We just made such a mess." The wolf is almost entirely out of my system now and I realize that we are covered in semen, and that the bed sheets are probably dirty now, too.

I lift myself up in my disgust. The smell is overwhelming. It isn't bad; it's musky and powerful, but not bad. I don't want to offend him, but my OCD is kicking in and I need to get clean. "I'm sorry, but I _**have**_ to take a shower."

He seems to understand, so I jump out of the bed and run to the bathroom. I turn on the warm water and wipe off with some of the moist towelettes that I keep in there for OCD emergencies just like this. Just as I open the shower curtain to step in, Aidan patters into the room and gives me a look that I can't quite decipher. I pause, hand on the curtain and slightly uncomfortable with the casual way he is leaning against the doorway. "What?" I ask, not getting the memo.

"Can I join you?" He shakes his head, trying to point out the obvious nature of his inquiry.

"What do you-" I cut myself off as I realize that he means in the shower. "Oh… That… sounds like a fantastic idea." I can't believe I hadn't thought of it earlier, actually. If we do stuff in the shower, we stay clean while we get dirty.

I climb into the shower and he follows. Standing beneath the flowing water, he rinses our ejaculate off of his stomach and then grabs the wash cloth. "Want me to get your back?" he asks almost jokingly. But, that sounds awesome to me. This relationship is going to be awesome. Plus, we can save on our water bill now. God, I am such a nerd. I should be thinking about the fact that he is now reaching around me and sliding his hands over my naked body while pressing our torsos together; but, instead, I am thinking about the financial and hygienic aspects of our partnership. I give myself a mental face-palm, quietly thinking, _**Stupid**_.

I grab the soap and rub the suds all over our bodies. He continues to scrub us down with the washcloth and I swear I'm in heaven. It's like I'm in an OCD porno. They should make one of those. I know I'd watch it. God, I am so stupid! Back to reality. He's sliding his hands down my lower back and pulling me in close. I kiss his neck, and realize why they don't make OCD pornos. The soap tastes awful and I almost fall backwards pushing myself away from him and spitting the awful taste out.

"What? Do I taste bad?" He looks a little offended.

"No! No, it's the soap! You taste good. Trust me." I try my hardest to roll my eyebrows on that last part, but I probably just made myself look like a fool.

"Well, if the soap tastes so bad, we should rinse off and get out of here." I can see the innuendo there, and I quickly wash all of the residue from my body. I jump out of the shower first, slipping on the tile. He catches me and we both laugh a little at my clumsiness. I grab a towel and toss him one, too.

Drying myself off, I stroll into the bedroom and do a quick inspection of the sheets. They actually managed to stay clean, so I turn around to see Aidan walking through the door, completely naked and entirely too casual about it. He is drying off his hair, and when he meets my gaze he drops the towel. "You want to do it again?" I swear he's acting like we've done it a million times and I'm still behaving like a nervous teenager.

"Aidan, we have to work tomorrow. We should probably just go to bed." He looks at me with wide eyes, practically ripping my heart to shreds with his expression. "But…" The ends of his mouth curl upwards. "I don't see any reason we can't spoon." He is clearly a little disappointed at this, but I don't think I'll be going to the work tomorrow if we do it again.

I pull him into the bed and drape the sheets over us. I roll so that I am facing away from him and he wraps his arms around me kissing up my neck. I interlace our fingers and turn my head to kiss him back. We both know nothing else is going to happen tonight. But, at least we've made it to the point where we sleep in the same bed. And, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have the best sleep ever tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>Aidan's POV<strong>

Keep calm… Keep calm… Keep calm…

We're going to have sex. I've been mentally preparing myself for a week now, but I'm still not sure I'll be able to control myself. He kisses me softly, but I pull away. I'm concerned; but, he said he trusts me, and if he can trust me, then I can trust myself. I kiss him and he breaks away. I don't know if he's afraid of me, or of having sex, or even if he's afraid of the wolf, but the scent of fear is fading from him quickly, so I go back in for another kiss. This time, neither of us break away.

The kissing and touching quickly get intense. He pulls me to the bed without breaking our kiss. I trace my hands along the contours of his back beneath his shirt. Then, with admittedly excessive force, I pull our bodies together, giving in to my overpowering desire for contact. I kiss him with passion that approaches animalistic lust. I can feel the beast within me growing in influence, but I can resist it as long as it's Josh here with me.

He rolls me over and thrust his hips into me. The shock of his abnormally forceful behavior pushes the monster back into my subconscious for a moment. I don't stop kissing him; this aggression of his is actually quite stimulating. So, I grab his ass and push him down onto me with greater strength.

My boner is aching against my jeans, and I am trying to figure out a way to get our pants off without making it seem like I'm rushing things. Suddenly, Josh picks himself up off of me and rips off my shirt with so much force that I am sure the wolf is bubbling up within him. Now that I know he has his strength, I can unleash my own. Grinning, I let my eyes go dark. He gazes down at me and the wolf is apparent in his eyes. It's actually quite beautiful. There is an animalistic golden glow that I feel I should fear, but I just want to embrace him.

I rend his shirt from him, tearing it with the same strength which he used on mine. He's going to be pissed at me later for wrecking one of his favorite shirts, but I can handle his anger if I get to have contact with more of his skin. I'm used to not having any heat, but as we rub together, I steal his warmth and I am actually getting **hot**. I'm really okay with the friction between us now, but, when Josh growls out, "Aidan… More…" I'm more than happy to oblige.

I rip his pants open, popping the button off and then slipping them down his legs and throwing them on the floor. I move as quickly as possible to remove my own pants, and toss them aside so I can continue. I reposition us so that I am lying on top of him. I wrap my legs around his to try to increase our skin contact, but it isn't enough stimulation, so I kiss down his neck, using all of my will power to keep from biting down. I move to his chest and give him a look to convey my intentions. He understands, and nods slightly, the glow in his eyes growing.

I rip his boxers off slide his dick into my mouth. His groans signal that I am getting him more than a little aroused. Unfortunately, I have let my inner monster loose a little too much. My fangs have grown out and I accidentally graze him with them as I take him in. he lets out a high-pitched noise that signals his surprise and I immediately pull away. Focusing all of my energy, I dispel my intense feelings and withdraw my fangs and blackened eyes. I don't think I can continue this when I know I've lost this much control already.

But, Josh lifts himself to a seated position and pulls me into an intense kiss. With that, I allow myself to slip back into my _natural_ form, but I make sure my fangs stay small. He pulls away and stares into my eyes. I can tell he wants more, but I can't go back down on him for fear that I may hurt him.

He seems to realize this and pushes me down onto the bed. He makes a trail of light kisses down my body and my eyes are trembling with bliss. He pulls off my underwear as he slides his bare body across my skin. He licks the tip of my penis and I literally quiver with pleasure. He takes me in and I run my fingers through his adorably messy hair.

It goes on for a while, and I even think I may orgasm here; but, Josh pulls himself up off of me. I give a guttural grunt, but then he does this strange thing. He lies down on top of me and grips my cock and his in a single hand. The feel of the tender skin of his against the most sensitive part of my own is practically enough to make me come here and now. I moan loudly and he gives and almost gleeful response.

"What's this?" I ask, waving a hand at the current state of our cocks.

"What? You don't know about frotting?" he asks as innocently as he possibly can in his prideful state. I'm sure he's having a little party inside since he finally knows some sexual thing that I don't. I know I've been around a long time, but having sex with men is not something I do all that often.

He begins to squeeze our conjoined dicks through his hands and the intense friction between us makes me come with an intense and almost violent spasm. I can't be sure, but I think the shaking from my ejaculation causes him to come as well. The warm ejaculate covers me, and then he lies down on top of me, pressing the warmth into me.

I know he's still got the wolf in him, but Josh is going to freak out when he comes to from the sex haze. The come is covering our torsos and it probably got on the bed. I start laughing at the situation, and, after a while, Josh gives me a glare. "What's so funny?" he asks. Judging by his tone, he is probably thinking I am laughing at his sexual prowess.

"We just made a mess." I state it plainly, still laughing quietly to myself. He makes the connection and I can literally feel the OCD panic kicking in. He lifts himself up off of me with a look approaching nausea on his face. I can tell he wants to go clean himself off but he feels like it would offend me. "I'm sorry," he sighs, "but I _**have**_ to take a shower." I give him my best _it's fine_ look and he jumps off the bed.

He literally runs to the bathroom and I lie there for a moment, reveling in the ecstasy that we just experienced. I know there's so much more we can, and will, do. But, for now, that was most definitely a step in the right direction.

I hear him start the shower and I have a great idea. I get up and saunter into the bathroom, leaning against the door frame when I get there. He is holding the curtain and is hunched slightly, clearly not entirely comfortable being naked in the full light of the bathroom. I don't say anything. I know he doesn't read social cues well, but come on. A steamy shower and two people who literally just had what could be labeled as sex: who wouldn't see the point there?

Apparently, Josh wouldn't see the point, because after a moment he asked, "What?"

I shake my head to emphasize the clarity of the point I'm about to make. "Can I join you?"

"What do you-" I can't believe he almost asked what I meant by 'join him.' Sometimes I swear I need to write things in big neon letters so he'll understand what I'm saying. "Oh…" he makes the realization. "That… sounds like a fantastic idea."

I follow him into the shower and rinse our come off of my stomach. Then I grab the washcloth off of the hook and ask him if he wants me to do his back. The look on his face is priceless. He must be loving this. Not only does he get to be all cuddly, I am literally cleansing him. His OCD is probably having an orgasm.

He starts to soap us up and I laugh silently. I do have to admit though, it is rather intimate to clean one another. The feel of the warm water, the gentle and smooth touches, and the light fragrances of the various products in the room; it's all very… romantic?

Anyways, I slide my hands down his slippery body and pull him in close. He kisses my neck and then freaks out all of a sudden. He backs up and spits, clearly trying to get something out of his mouth.

"What?" I'm a little concerned now. "Do I taste bad?"

"No!" he almost shouts in acquiescence. "No, it's the soap! You taste good. Trust me." He does some sort of strange twitch with his eyebrows and I have to laugh at his botched attempt to be alluring.

I realize nothing's going to happen between us if we're covered in the foul tasting soap. So, I quickly suggest, "Well, if the soap tastes so bad, we should rinse off and get out of here." Thank God, he sees what I am saying and he quickly finishes up. He jumps out of the shower and just about drops straight to the ground.

I catch him, and when I am sure he has regained his balance, I laugh at his awkwardness. He laughs a little too and then grabs us both towels, throwing one to me and then walking briskly to his room as he dries off.

I take my time drying off and slowly follow him into the bedroom. I am drying my hair, so I don't see him staring at me until I finish. When I do see him, however, I drop my towel and meet his gaze. "You want to do it again?" I ask, feeling the excitement in my own voice.

"Aidan, we have to work tomorrow. We should probably just go to bed." I can tell he is going to be the responsible one in this relationship. It's just too bad. I would've loved to do it again. He can probably see the downed look on my face, so he compromises slightly, "But…" I'm feeling like this could go well for me. "I don't see any reason we can't spoon." Nevermind, the night is over.

He pulls me into bed, both of us still naked, and pulls the sheets over us. He puts his back to me and I wrap my arm around him like I did when he was sick. I kiss up his neck, the faint soap taste still a bit strange. Then, he wraps his fingers around mine and cranes his head back to kiss me. Nothing more will happen tonight, but it will eventually. Besides, I know this will be some of the best sleep I've ever had.


	12. Moving Forward and Moving On

**A/N:** I use a number of direct or paraphrased quotes and situations in this chapter and the made me realize that I have yet to put in and need a…

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of Being Human nor of anything else for that matter. This story is not intended to make profit of any kind in any way. I also have no intentions of breaking any copyright laws.

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><p>It takes coaxing to get Aidan out of bed most days, but today he is especially reluctant. Even Josh doesn't want to wake up; so, he waits until there are only 50 minutes until they have to start their shifts at the hospital. He rolls out of Aidan's arms and lightly places his feet on the cold hardwood floor. The cold air almost freezes his naked body, but he knows the both of them have to get to work. Having a job is important to him; it makes him more normal. Josh throws on some clean underwear and some fresh scrubs. Then he goes to Aidan's room and gets a set of clothes for him.<p>

"Aidan…" Josh shakes Aidan's arm in a weak attempt to wake him. Shaking him harder, Josh raises his voices and says again, "Aidan, you have to get up or we'll be late for work."

He slowly opens his eyes and rolls over to face Josh. A large and contented smile spreads across Aidan's face. Taking a deep breath, he throws off the covers and pulls Josh in to kiss him. Josh is surprised by the sudden kiss and is sent off kilter. When Aidan releases him, he stumbles back with the look of shock on his face. Of course, Aidan smirks at this and Josh's face relaxes.

"We have to hurry," Josh notes, "so try to keep it in your pants."

"In case you haven't noticed," Aidan motions down with his eyes, "I'm not wearing any-"

Josh cuts him off just before he finishes that thought by tossing the fresh clothes at him. "I'll be downstairs," Josh waves as he heads downstairs to get Aidan's blood ready. He figures he can drink warm coffee at the hospital - even if it does taste awful - but Aidan can't really get any warm blood at work.

Aidan pulls his clothes on quickly, reveling in the events of the night before. Work is going to be unbearable today. He'll just be yearning to get home and be with Josh again. The familiar smell of his microwaved blood wafts up the stairs and flares in his nostrils; so, he quickly picks up the pile of clothes from last night's frantic happenings so Josh wouldn't have to worry about it later. Then he drops quickly down the stairs into the living room. Josh almost flies past him on his way to the door. He passes the mug of blood off into Aidan's hands and starts to pull on his shoes. Aidan walks slowly to the door, gulping the blood before slipping on his jacket and shoes, grabbing his keys, and opening the door for Josh, who just finished fumbling with his shoelaces.

It's a relatively short ride to work. Traffic is light for a Monday, and even though neither of them says anything on the way, it isn't an awkward silence. Both of them just smile and resign to their own happy thoughts.

They arrive at the hospital with just five minutes before they have to check in at the nurses' station. As they get ready to leave the locker room, Aidan leans in to give Josh a kiss; but, all of a sudden, Josh's face gets all worried and he gives Aidan a look of warning.

Aidan gets why Josh is concerned, but he doesn't really think it makes any sense. "Josh," he begins, serious but chuckling softly, "no one here is going to care if we're together."

Josh looks around; there are other people in the room. So, he lowers his voice and gets that adorably worried timbre in his voice. "You say that," he looks around again, "but I don't want people to know just yet. Don't get me wrong: I love you, I do. It's just… Just please don't do anything too relationshippy, okay?"

Aidan still doesn't see the problem, but if it makes Josh uncomfortable then he won't do anything to "relationshippy" at the hospital. He just pats Josh on the shoulder and walks out of the room.

Josh follows, still jabbering at him. "Aidan, I don't want you to get upset about this, it's just that we were beginning to seem more normal and I don't want to people to be put off by… **us**. Because… I mean… I don't mean that **we** aren't normal, it's just that you know…" He trails off just as they reach the nurses' station and Aidan appears completely unaffected by the whole conversation. Josh, on the other hand, is out of breath with that almost maniacally happy look on his face.

"Morning, boys," greets Maria, never actually looking up from her computer screen. Josh has always been a little weirded out by that. She rarely looks up from her computer but always seems to see what's going on. He'll have to look into it later.

"Morning, Maria," Aidan greets casually.

But of course, Josh's awkward tendencies take over and he practically shouts in an Indian accent, "Oh, yes; very good morning indeed, Maria."

Now Maria looks up, giving Josh a questioning look as he awkwardly tries to smile the moment into non-existence. She turns her attention to Aidan, "You should have him see a doctor. So, how was your date last night?"

Josh gives Aidan a not very well hidden look of aggravated concern. Aidan gives him a soft look that says everything is fine and then turns back to Maria. "It was good. I think I'll have to go out with them again."

Josh looks at him adoringly but his expression is quickly broken by Maria's voice questioning him. "And you. How was your date?"

Now Aidan gives Josh a look of almost condescending amusement. "Yes, Josh; how **was** your date?"

Josh looks frantically between Maria and Aidan, struggling to get a word out. "Well… you know… it was… good… and stuff… and I'll… I'll totally… probably… maybe…" He stops on Aidan for a moment and collects himself. "I think I'll be seeing hi- _**her**_ again."

"Well. Sounds like you both are having some good luck lately. Now here're your charts for the day." Maria hands Aidan his patient list and Josh his list of things to do. They both have double shifts today, so they won't be getting home until 2 in the morning.

* * *

><p>Sally pops in on Josh as he's sweeping up one of the hallways of the hospital and he almost has a heart attack. "Sally!" he whispers with an only slightly controlled expression on his face. "What the hell are you doing here?"<p>

"Oh my God, Josh! It is ridiculous! My best friend and my fiancée are total whores!" Her yelling prompts Aidan to poke his head out of one of the rooms nearby. When Josh sees him, he gives him a look that expresses just how freaked out he is and Aidan dutifully drops the supplies he was carrying on a cart and walks over to his roommates.

"Hey," Aidan says pointedly to Sally, "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much; just hell on earth!" Aidan and Josh both give her a look to keep explaining so that they don't have to look any crazier than they already do. "Danny and Bridget were totally making out!"

"Who's Bridget?" Josh asks.

"My best friend who I've known since the third grade who I now realize is also a _brutal_ _whore_."

"So…" Aidan asks, "Should we take our break and discuss this in the basement?" Josh nods and they all make the necessary arrangements to maintain their status as relatively normal people at the hospital.

Sally rants all the way to the basement where Josh and Aidan can finally chime in. "Sally," Aidan starts, "I understand you're upset, but you have to realize that they're not trying to hurt you."

"I'm barely in the ground and they're already moving on," Sally yells, clearly upset by their actions. "I just want them to remember me…" she's broken down now. She stopped yelling and instead begins to cry softly.

"Sally," Josh points out, "they're going to forget you… You're _not_… _**here**_."

"Oh, yeah, Josh, **that** makes me feel better!" she blurts, her anger returning.

Aidan gives him a look that tells him now would be a good time to leave and he nods and turns toward the stairs. When he is out of earshot, and Sally has calmed down some more, Aidan tries to help her through the situation. "Maybe you're looking at this wrong. Instead of seeing it as Danny and Bridget forgetting you, you should see as two people being brought together by the love they shared for you."

Sally scoffs slightly at his extreme sentimentality, "Okay, Mr. Hallmark, how about we dial back the crazy. You just go ahead and admit that they're forgetting me and stop trying to make me feel better and I'll calm down."

"I don't just want you to calm down, Sally. It's just…" Aidan takes a moment to try to figure out what to say. Somewhere deep in his subconscious, linked to the word relationship, Aidan suddenly accessed his feelings about life before and after he and Josh got _**together**_. "Sally, this life gets bitterly cold. Sometimes, you just need to cling to the person you can claw your way out of the dark with. Danny and Bridget, they may not be kismet, but we all deserve a shot at a normal life. They do, you do."

"You do."

"Maybe…"

"So… is Josh that person for you?"

"I think he may be." A smile spread across his face and she was clearly getting over her pity party. "So, are you okay now?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine. You should probably get back to work anyways. I'll see you guys at home." Sally mists away and Aidan heads back upstairs.

"Hey," Josh says, startled as he almost jumps from his position leaning on the wall. "So? How's our ghost?"

"She'll be fine," Aidan tells him as he rubs the younger man's back. "Back to work?"

"Yeah… this counts as our lunch break, and since I actually eat, I'm going to the cafeteria. You wanna come with me?"

Aidan breathes in deeply through his nose. "Sure, but only on one condition."

Josh gives Aidan a searching look, indicating his lack of understanding. After a long pause, he finally asks, "What?"

Aidan gets a gentle but scheming smile. "You have to promise me that you'll kiss me in public." Josh's expression drops and he's clearly about to make some sort of excuse or explanation of not being ready, so Aidan qualifies his statement: "It doesn't have to be right now, you just can't put it off forever. By this time next month, I want you to have kissed me at least once in the hospital. What do you say?"

Josh pauses for a moment, quietly weighing having Aidan around at lunch versus the weirdness that would ensue if he and Aidan went public with their relationship. In the end, he wants Aidan there at lunch; he's far too awkward to have made any other good friends to talk to and he couldn't stand eating in silence. Even more than that, though, at a subconscious level, Josh _**wants**_ to kiss Aidan in public. He wants to lay claim to the vampire who attracts everyone's attention and flirtation. So, he nods his head and says, "Fine. By this time next month, I will have kissed you, in public, in the hospital, for everyone to see. Now, can we go to lunch?"

Aidan smiles and puts his hand on Josh's back in a gesture that wouldn't necessarily betray their secret relationship as they walk together to the cafeteria. It may take the entire month, but now he had a set deadline to gauge his anticipation of a public relationship with Josh.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm planning on continuing to develop their relationship, but in imagining this interaction I can't help but keep moving to more of the plot points of the canon show. So, if I do keep going, it's going to end up including more than just a few references to things that happen on the show. Tell me what you think: End the story here or include canon plot points?


	13. Bond Strength

**A/N:** So I realized that it's been exactly one month since I posted Chapter 1. Hooray! Anyways, I decided to post a second chapter tonight. I am pretty busy, so I won't usually post more than one chapter per week, but it's a special occasion because of my story's anniversary and the fact that Season 2 starts today! Sorry if the sex scene is awkward, but I find them strange to write. Also, I hate Rebecca (no offense to people who like her) so I'm sorry if I paint her negatively. Enjoy! (and don't forget to review : ] )

* * *

><p>It's been a few days since Josh had made the promise to kiss Aidan in public. So far, nothing has happened, but Aidan knows it will… eventually. His shift ended before Josh's today, so he ran home and left the car at the hospital for him. Sure, it's quite the jog, but at vampire speed through the woods to avoid the public eye and to take a shortcut, he can make it home in under a half an hour. Besides, it's better to make sure that Josh doesn't have to catch the bus.<p>

About halfway home, Aidan begins to notice someone following him. He is a bit concerned, but he decides that if a vampire is actually on his tail, he would rather face them in familiar territory, so he continues to run.

Just about a block from the house, Aidan turns down an alley and stops. Through his sense of hearing, Aidan can tell the vampire is quickly approaching. She turns the corner and he quickly grabs her by the throat. Realizing who it is, he releases her. "Rebecca? Why are you following me?"

"Are you rough with all the girls, or is it just me?" she laughs. She ignores his confusion and a stressed look wears heavily on her face. "Can we talk?"

Aidan looks around tentatively and brings her into a more secluded corner of the alley. Once they have found a seat on a small pile of crates, Aidan, quietly angered, asks again, "What do you want, Rebecca?"

"Just, try to remember for a second that you care about me. I want to get away from Bishop."

"You want to get away from Bishop? Just like that?" He can't believe she is acting so innocent while just weeks ago she was flying high on live blood and dreaming of killing her family.

"It's not just him. Bishop is just the tip of a pile of nasty, blood-lusty garbage."

"Oh, because the last I remember you were having the time of your life tearing through innocent people."

"I thought it made me strong; invincible… I'm the weakest thing on earth. And the, uh, rush- the fantasy of how I kill- when I kill, it's gone. It's like I snapped out of twilight sleep and now I can hear people whimper see the fear in their eyes. I hate who I am; who I've become. I just want it to stop."

Aidan knows this is at least partially his fault, he killed her. Of course, Bishop is the one who turned her. No matter how you look at it though, it certainly is no fault of hers. "It's not your fault you didn't choose-"

"No… I didn't. But everything I've done since I turned…" She trails off, clearly upset and not able to cope. "But I could stop. You stopped."

"I don't know…" It's true. Aidan has stopped… mostly. But, Rebecca doesn't have anywhere _near_ the experience or age that he has; and, if he couldn't keep himself from killing her, he's pretty sure she won't be able to stop at all.

"But you could help me." She almost pleads, desperately crying out for help that he isn't sure he can give; help that he isn't even sure will do anything.

"I don't know…" Now he his mind forces him to think of Josh. Their relationship is just beginning, and it may be the one thing that can truly help him stay on the straight and narrow. If he goes off and tries to help Rebecca he could jeopardize everything. He could **lose** **Josh** **forever**, and he can't even stand the _thought_ of that.

"You _**wanted**_ to help me," she declares. Scoffing lightly at his lack of enthusiasm, she begins again, "Doesn't better late than never count for anything anymore?" She needs help if she's going to make it without killing anyone else. But, Aidan is old enough to be able to set his priorities clearly; and, right now, Josh is his top priority.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca, I really am. But… I just can't help you." She looks appalled, and he is **deeply** sorry that he can't help her. She _is_ his responsibility. It's _his_ fault that she is this way. But, again, he **can't** risk what he's making with Josh, even if it tears him apart inside knowing that a monster walks the streets, killing in his name.

"Well," she ends the silence abruptly, "Aren't you just the picture of morality. You screw a girl, you kill her, and when she comes back from the grave, you won't even help her stop killing people."

"Rebecca, I'm not -"

She stands and cuts him off angrily, "Save it for your mutt, asshole. We're done. I'm going back to Bishop and the others. At least they understand family. They support each other. You won't even help your own kind. You're disgusting."

Aidan is breathing heavily because he knows Rebecca will kill again; but, he's glad that he can still focus on his and Josh's relationship. Does that make him guilty of refusing to accept responsibility for the blood that will be on his hands because of her? At the end of the alley, she stops and looks over her shoulder. At first she has a distinct look of fear, but her expression quickly hardens into anger and she saunters away.

Aidan takes some time to just sit there and compose himself. At first he is just gasping for air and praying for forgiveness for the monster he helped to create, but he knows that Sally would be all over him if he walked into that house with anything but a casual expression on his face.

After a few minutes he goes to the house, taking deep breaths and giving a forced relaxedness to his gait. He takes out his keys and opens the door. Luckily Sally doesn't appear to be here, so he walks inside and breathes a large sigh of relief, dropping his calm façade from his face and the coat from his shoulders. He falls onto that dingy orange couch that he loved for so many reasons and tried to keep himself from bursting with grief and remorse for his failure to stop Rebecca.

He has about three hours before Josh is going to be home and in that amount of time he's going to have to try his hardest to keep from doing something major. The grief makes him crave blood. It's his body's way of trying to make him stronger. There is only one bag of blood in the freezer and he fears that giving in to his cravings may make them even more intense. Drinking live would not bode well for his burgeoning relationship, and he knows that. So, all he can do is curl up in the fetal position and rock himself back and forth while he waits for his anchor to get home. He decides then and there that they shouldn't have any more dissimilar shifts; at least for a while.

* * *

><p>After about an hour of wallowing, Sally mists in and goes on some tirade about how Danny and Bridget's relationship is growing and it's grossing her out. Aidan doesn't really listen, but after about the first ten minutes of her monologue, Sally inquires as to his opinion. "Are you even listening? What the hell is up with you? You look all depressed."<p>

Aidan can feel the urges to drink growing and he knows that it is Sally breaking his concentration. "Sally, I know your life sucks right now, but I really don't have the will power to sit here and listen to you, so I'm going to tune you out. You can stay or you can leave - I'm hoping you'll leave - but I'm not listening." He figures he's going to regret his tone here shortly, but it just sort of came out.

Sally goes to say something, but since Aidan clearly isn't going to listen, she just huffs and dissipates from the room. Aidan can already feel the urges going back to their suppressed state, but he knows he won't be able to fully control them until Josh gets home, so he tries his best to fall asleep and pass the agonizing time.

* * *

><p>Josh throws the door open and drops his stuff at the entrance. "Honey, I'm home…" he says with little enthusiasm. He is drained from his day at work and he just wants to go to bed. When no response comes to his sarcastic announcement, Josh gets a little worried. "Aidan? Are you home?"<p>

Aidan comes to on the couch and lifts himself from his curled position. He feels an almost immediate relief from the urges to drink. They are quickly replaced, however, with an urge to jump Josh.

"Hey, sweetie. Why are you lying on the couch?" Josh is confused not only by his roommate's location, but also by the indescribable look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

Aidan practically leaps up from the couch and drags Josh into him, kissing and groping passionately. Josh pushes away, clearly shocked by the sudden intrusion into his space. "Well, hello there, Mr. Handsy. What are you doing?"

"I need you… to touch me. I'm having… blood cravings." Aidan barely managed to get the words out between the intense bursts of lust coursing through his veins and intruding into his consciousness.

"Okay, Aidan," Josh says calmly. He knows he's Jewish, but he's pretty sure he deserves sainthood for this. "Let's go upstairs and we'll…" He leaves the rest to the imagination and pulls Aidan along up the stairs to his room.

Their hands search over each other and their lips stay fully locked from the moment they reach the top of the stairs. They haven't been pushing the sex topic lately, and even though they've been sleeping in the same bed since they did it the first time, they haven't done anything more than make out and sleep naked for the last few days.

Aidan throws them down on the bed and his hands move as quickly as possible to remove every article of clothing from their bodies. Soon they are in full contact and Josh can feel both of their erections rubbing harshly against skin. Josh knows that the sexual release will sharply diminish Aidan's urges, so he breaks the kiss and slides down Aidan's body so that his mouth aligns with Aidan's cock. He begins to suck and Aidan has to grip the sheets to keep himself from bruising Josh with his intense convulsions that coincide with the pleasurable feelings being aroused. When Josh feels that Aidan is about to come, he removes his mouth and uses his hand to finish it off. As the viscous white fluid is released, Aidan's convulsions drastically increase and then suddenly drop off, pulling him back down from his frenzied state into a strange euphoria.

After a moment, the euphoria passed and Aidan realized this had been a very one-sided escapade. Breathing heavily, he looks down at his lover and says, "Thanks. Now, I think I owe you." Aidan goes to pull Josh up onto him, but Josh reaches over and grabs some Kleenex from the nightstand.

"Wipe yourself off first. If I have to put up with your vamp-urges, you have to put up with my OCD." Aidan dutifully wipes down his torso and tosses the tissues into the small trash can beside the nightstand. Then he pulls Josh's naked body up onto his own and begins to kiss him softly.

When Josh feels just about ready to yell at Aidan, he gets turned around on top of his companion. Aidan reaches his hand around Josh and grips his dick. His other hand reaches up to Josh's chest and massages his nipples while Aidan's mouth licks and nips playfully at Josh's tender neck. After a few moments in this blissful position, Josh muscles tighten in his orgasm.

Josh relaxes back into Aidan. Knowing it will please him, Aidan grabs a few tissues and wipes Josh off before pulling the covers over the both of them and kissing softly at his lover's neck again.

The two are entirely relaxed as they lay there. It's the perfect relationship. Everything that they need - a release, a companion, a stable bond, a soft shoulder - they have in each other. Aidan's needed this for a long time, and he needs it much more apparently than Josh. But, Josh needs the bond, the friendship that's more than that, to feel normal.

And in the end, what's more chaotically irrational and subtly soothing than love?


	14. Don't Come In, We're Coming Out

"The full moon is tonight," Aidan says casually as Josh thumps down the stairs into the living room. He is sitting at the table reading the paper and sipping his blood, not even looking up from whatever captivating story he's reading.

"I know," Josh responds almost angrily. He walks into the kitchen and runs a hand softly across Aidan's back as he passes by to make himself a sandwich.

"Ugh," Sally pipes in from her perch on the kitchen counter. 'You two are such an old married couple."

Aidan looks up from his paper with a slightly confused expression on his face. He understands sarcasm and he gets most of the modern phrases, but this one eludes him. Josh catches a glance of Aidan's face and puts down the knife that he's using to make his sandwich. "She means we have totally set and routine actions and that we're totally dry and boring. Of course, if you consider that we've had sex at least 10 times in the past two days I'd say she's wrong."

Ever since that first time Aidan needed Josh to relieve his blood cravings, the two had been having sex frequently. It was still just blow-jobs and heavy groping, but that counted as sex; at least for Josh.

Sally's face squishes up in disgust. "Okay, I soooo don't want to even picture that."

"Speaking of," Aidan chimes in, "How is it that you haven't popped in on us at all? Don't get me wrong: I don't want you to. But it seems like you're never here anymore. What's the deal?"

"I've just been hanging around Bridget and Danny a lot lately." Sally admits her guilt in stalking her living friends and Aidan gives her an obvious look of disapproval. "Anyways… We should probably have some sort of sign so I don't walk in on you, right?"

Josh nods quickly and Aidan supplies a response for both of them. "How about, if the door to our room is closed, you don't come in."

"Oh… Yeah. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Okay, sounds good. Just don't do it in the living room, 'kay?"

"Fine," Josh says disappointedly. "We should probably get to work. It was nice enough of Maria to give us a half day today. We shouldn't lose her favor."

Aidan is pulled along by Josh's voice to the door and the two head off to work.

* * *

><p>It has been their ritual for the past few weeks for Aidan to lightly and subtly tease Josh in the locker room each day before they begin working. Josh has yet to fulfill his promise to kiss Aidan publically in the hospital and there's no way Aidan's going to let him forget it.<p>

Today, Aidan is a little less subtle. He drags his hand across Josh's chest and breathes softly into his ear before leaving the room. Josh looks after him for a moment and feels just enough of the wolf in him to know what he is about to do. He's not entirely sure he won't regret this tomorrow.

Josh bursts out of the room and whips Aidan around to face him. Smashing his lips against his partners, Josh feels the air in the room grow still. The noise made by the door brought everyone's attention to the pair, but their eyes lingered on the intimate display.

Maria is standing about five feet away amongst a gaggle of gossiping nurses, and as she begins to realize just what is going on, she begins to clap. The nurses around her do the same and she calls out, "Finally!"

Josh releases his lover and the pair looks around the room at their co-workers. No one is obviously perturbed. In fact, thanks to Maria's first action, the majority of them are smiling and giving congratulatory glances.

"See," Aidan says triumphantly, "I told you no one here would care."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Sorry, everybody. I know this one is short, but I had a crazy weekend and I figured I would just crank out this chapter. It's really just the beginning of a longer chapter, so if I have time this week I'll get that out. Also, to address MyBeatingKokoro's mpreg comment: I'm thinking about writing that into the storyline later on (quite a ways in the future and with some actual explanation of *how*), so what does everyone think?


	15. Quit Stalking or I'll Shut Your Trap

Josh gets changed out of his scrubs and heads down the long corridor that leads to the basement. Earlier today he kissed Aidan in the middle of the hallway in front of many of their co-workers and now his head is swimming with other things he wants to do to the vampire. His human mind is still mostly aware, so he knows that these desires are primarily fueled by the wolf, but he enjoys their presence so he lets them run wild. He'll have to suppress them when he gets to the basement because Aidan will be waiting there to lock him up.

About halfway down the corridor, Josh feels a presence following behind him. He turns and senses a shift in the air, but no one is there. The hall smells strongly of the wolf, which shouldn't be all that strange because Josh has just walked down it; but, there is a different musk mixed in. He walks a little further but then has the sensation of being followed again. The entire situation is getting more than a little odd; so, after taking a brief moment to scan the hall again, Josh sprints to the cage as fast as he can.

It's been a long day and Aidan doesn't even know how he is still awake. After Josh kissed him he just about died of happiness. Now that they are out in the open he can start to be at least a little more intimate at work. It's not like he's going to just grab Josh and make out in the hall every day. He's just glad that he can give him a peck on the lips or a shoulder rub without everybody making confused looks and whispering behind their backs. Hearing the patter of hastened footsteps, Aidan watches intently as his companion turns the corner and comes to a quick stop a few feet away. "What's the matter?"

Josh is breathing heavily in distress. "I think there's somebody following me."

Aidan's face quickly turns serious. "Get in there," he motions to the cage. Josh knows this is the one time of the month that he could actually help; but after seeing the protective look in Aidan's eyes, he complies. The door clicks shut behind him, locking him in. Rounding the corner, Aidan inhales deeply through his nose and tries to detect the scent of whoever is following Josh.

Just as he gets a trace of a foul smelling wolf, Aidan is tackled to the floor. Josh hears the noise and rushes over to the door. Looking through the small window on the door, Josh can see a man sitting on top of Aidan hitting him repeatedly in the face with open hands and sending blood spatters up onto the walls.

"Hey!" Josh yells through the door and the man turns his head. Aidan seizes the brief opportunity and kicks the werewolf off of himself, catapulting the stranger into the wall. While the attacker is momentarily immobilized, Aidan moves as quickly as he can, which isn't all that fast right now, to pull the door open and let Josh out.

Once it is slightly ajar, Josh bursts through the cage door and grips the new man harshly by his t-shirt. Slamming the other man into the wall, Josh breathes in and identifies the attacker as a werewolf. A growl growing steadily in the back of his throat, Josh roars, spittle flying in the new wolf's face. The man looks frightened, smug, and confused at the same time. Josh's wolf and his rage are making him much stronger than this new antagonist.

"Josh," Aidan yells, only slightly gaining the man's attention. "Put him in the cage!" Josh grips the new wolf by the throat and flings him into the small room with all his strength. Aidan slams the door shut behind and the couple stares through the window at their strange attacker. The werewolf runs up to the door and searches for a handle. Upon finding no such object on his side of the door, he bangs against the metal and yells what must be profanity.

The pair back away from the door and Josh reaches out a hand to stroke the gashes on Aidan's face. Aidan flinches slightly at the pain; but, he reverts to his normally calm expression quickly. "Are you okay?"

"Josh," Aidan says in his normally nonchalant mannerism, "I'm fine. What about you? Where are you going to transform? You are not going in there with that." Aidan gestures to the door and makes a rather disgusted look.

"I don't really have much choice." Josh pauses, trying to weigh the pros and cons of what he is about to do over the intense pounding in his head that is telling him to mount Aidan and rip that other guy to shreds. He takes a deep breath and sighs, "I have to go to the forest." Aidan opens his mouth to protest, but Josh cuts him off. "Don't, Aidan. I don't have a choice and there isn't enough time for us to argue about this."

Aidan scowls as he watches Josh back away and run out of the hospital. Josh will regret his decision in the morning when he wakes up with a deer in his stomach. _But_, Aidan thinks to himself, _he won't regret it nearly as much as this jackass._ Aidan peers through the window again at the new werewolf. If it wasn't the full moon, Aidan would tear this guy to pieces. But, that will have to wait until tomorrow.

A sudden howl of agony derails Aidan's train of thought and he snaps back to the moment. The new wolf is beginning to transform inside the cage. This man's pain fuels Aidan's rage and fills him with satisfaction, but then he remembers Josh. He isn't sure exactly how fast Josh can run; but, even at vampire speed, the forest was a good ten minutes away.

Hopefully he made it to the forest in time.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Sorry about the sporadic updates. After this weekend my schedule should even out again and I'll get some longer chapters posted on weekends. Thanks to everyone who reads my story!

(p.s. If I do end up getting that far in their relationship, Josh and Aidan will probably just adopt a kid)


	16. The New Guy

**A/N**: Sorry, everyone. I know it's been like forever since my last update, but the usual life got in the way and then there was also the writer's block I was having on this chapter. Hopefully you all like it (It may have got a little angsty at some points).

* * *

><p>Bones crunch and muscles constrict and expand painfully as Josh nears the woods. He's always been able to suppress the wolf, but to suppress it while running as fast as possible is not something he would have ever been prepared for. Luckily, he was able to maintain consciousness and relatively human form until reaching the forest.<p>

Only barely though, and as the wolf began to take over his mind, Josh feared for any fool who may be camping in these woods.

* * *

><p>Waking up in the mud and itchy grass was never pleasant. It was even less pleasant when naked and covered in blood. Josh immediately vomited up what he hoped was a deer. Aidan wouldn't be coming for him today. He had to find some clothes and get back to the hospital. A lucky pair of campers had forgetfully left a pair of sweatpants outside their tent. Josh took them and stole a bottle of water to wash off the blood.<p>

It was a much longer walk back to the hospital than it had been away. And, when Josh finally arrived, he had to avoid all of his co-workers and make his way to the basement.

Aidan leapt up from his seat next to the cage and gripped Josh's filthy, half naked body. Not smelling any human blood on his love, Aidan gave him a kiss square on the lips then stepped away, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you made it through the night okay."

"Yeah," Josh said fairly unenthusiastically. "So, what are we going to do with this asshole?" Josh gestured through the small window to the naked figure in the room.

"Kill him?" Aidan was more asking permission than giving a suggestion.

Josh paused a moment, uncharacteristically entertaining the idea. It wasn't so much that Josh was angry at the new man for pushing him into a risky situation. He was angry that the man attacked Aidan. The night had healed much of Aidan's wounds, but there was still a sizeable gash across his face. Then he finally responded. "No. I need to know why he was following me."

Josh opened the cage door and entered, throwing a pair of scrub pants at the naked werewolf. Then Aidan commanded, "Get up, bastard."

The man woke slowly, almost as if he was taunting the pair. Then he rose slowly and donned the pants. "I see you made it through the night," chimed the new wolf. "Too bad I was locked up in here or we could've had some major fun."

Josh grabbed the man by the throat and pushed him to the wall again, just as he had the night before. "Who are you and why were you following me?"

"Calm down, Josh. I'm a wolf. I was following you because I think **we** should stick together." Josh drops the man and steps back.

"Why did you attack my friend?"

"_Him_?" he gestures to Aidan. "He's a vampire. Why wouldn't I attack him? We're supposed to be mortal enemies."

Josh begins, "Well-"

But Aidan cuts in, "Wait, Josh. How'd he know your name?"

Josh gets a sudden glint of realization in his eyes. He wasn't just being followed by his wolf scent. He was being tracked - stalked as a human.

Josh was on the new wolf again, slamming him into the wall with enough force to form cracks in the cement. "What do you want from me?"

The strange new wolf's face went from its previous jocular mannerisms into an eerily serious expression. "I just want to be a part of your life, Josh. Ever since I became a wolf, I've had no family. But now, with you, I have a chance at that sort of thing. I know we're not really related, but we have something very important in common."

As he listened to the new man, Josh loosened his grip and softened his stance. The man was just looking for a family. Josh knew how isolating becoming the wolf was, and if their places were reversed, Josh realized he probably would have sought out those relationships as well.

Aidan noticed Josh's posture relaxing and grew intrigued. "Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, Josh."

"Aidan, I -"

Aidan put on his most concerned and persuasive face and cut Josh off. "I'm sorry, Josh. You know that on almost everything I'll support you, but this guy tried to rip my face off and he's clearly not the most civil werewolf."

Josh stepped away from the new wolf, who began to move forward upon release. Josh half-turned back, and instructed as if to an eager pet, "Stay." Josh exited the cage and signaled Aidan to follow him. Outside, Aidan closed the door and Josh began, "I know it's a lot to ask, but you took me in and I've controlled myself and kept the wolf out of trouble for the most part."

"That's completely different, Josh. You and he are different people. I'm not concerned about the fact that he's a wolf any further than the fact that it gives him the power to hurt you. You're physically stronger than him right now, but what about during the next moon? What if he persuades you to go to the forest and you kill someone? That seems like the kind of person and wolf he is. Is that what you want to become?"

"No... No. But, Aidan, those assumptions are ridiculous. We don't know how good or bad he is. For all we know he could have that he was protecting me by attacking you. We have to give him a chance." Aidan prepared to speak again, but Josh cut him off. "I'm not taking no for an answer on this one, Aidan. He's coming home with us and he'll stay there until he finds another place to live. Besides, we've got an extra room now."


End file.
